


Shadow Phoenix

by moonbeamwolf



Series: Moonlight Shadows [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Dementors, Gen, Vampires, Werewolves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-10-16
Packaged: 2018-11-04 01:53:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 17
Words: 35,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10979931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonbeamwolf/pseuds/moonbeamwolf
Summary: The vampire prince has arrived at Hogwarts and discovers that even in school he is in danger simply for what he is. Shingetsu Yamazaki knows that he has to be careful while at Hogwarts but how will others treat him when they find out what he is? What plans does the Ministry have in store for the vampires, Shadow Phoenix Clan, and their young prince?





	1. Blooded

**Author's Note:**

> Neville is the BWL in this story. Harry's parents were killed by Death Eaters on October 31, 1981.
> 
> Bold=thoughts
> 
> Bold Italic=Shingetsu and Titus’s mental link
> 
> Italic=Shingetsu and Nightmare’s familiar bond
> 
> Harry is renamed Shingetsu after he is turned into a vampire. I have also taken on the idea of pureblood vampires marrying their siblings from Vampire Knight and incoporated it into this story. Severus also has a son in this fan fic. 
> 
> *A sequel is being outlined called Silver Dawn.*
> 
> *As always, if you hate the story don't bother commenting or reading it.*

A group of masked figures apparated into Godric’s Hollow and walked down the street to a small cottage.  They stopped in front of the Potter Cottage and turned to the lead death eater.  “Our master is taking care of the Longbottom boy.  We are to kill the Potters.”

The other death eaters in the group nodded.  They blasted open the door and heard hurried footsteps coming from the living room.  “Avada Kedavra!” Lucius shouted and a jet of green light hit James Potter square in the chest where his lifeless body fell to the floor.  “Upstairs and kill the Mudblood and their child.  The Dark Lord doesn’t want to risk another threat to his power in case Dumbledore decides to use both boys to defeat him.”

In another part of Godric’s Hollow Lord Voldemort was walking towards the Longbottom’s House.  He opened the door with the Alohomora spell and slaughtered Frank and Alice Longbottom.  He heard a scream coming from the back bedroom and walked into it to see a woman who must have been the boy’s grandmother shielding her grandson.  “Get out of here you monster!”

“Avada Kedavra,” Voldemort said lazily and watched as she crumpled to the ground in a lifeless heap.  Smirking at his handiwork he went towards the boy who was sitting up in his crib looking at the scene with wide eyes.  “It’s a shame I have to kill you child but I can’t have anyone who will be alive to kill me.”  As he raised his wand a jet of green light shot towards the child, hit the child between the eyes and rebounded back on Voldemort. He let out a scream as his soul fled from his body and his body was destroyed.  The house immediately caught fire in green flames and quickly burned to the ground but little Neville Longbottom was shielded from the flames by the love of his parents and grandmother.  The only thing that marked the boy’s failed death was a crescent moon scar.

Back at the Potter Cottage Lily screamed as she met the fate of her friends and husband. A death eater pulled out a knife and slashed the infant’s right wrist.

Apparating outside a young death eater shot the dark mark into the air.  A green skull with a snake protruding out of its mouth composed of glittering green stars formed above the house.  In the trees watching this horror take place were two members of Shadow Phoenix Clan; the vampire king and a woman who was one hundred years old.

“Sire?” A young female vampire asked.  “What do we do about the death eaters?”

“The war between the wizards and witches has nothing to do with us.  Yet the child has done nothing to deserve death or a life of suffering which he will certainly face.  I’m going to watch the child for a while and make sure it’s protected. Return to our home Emerald.”

“Yes King Arashi.”

Emerald quickly disappeared in black flames leaving the vampire king to watch over the child.  Arashi Yamazaki ruled the vampires with his mate Yuki.  His own clan was Shadow Phoenix.  “Why these parents had to die when the Dark Lord attacked the boy in the prophecy I don’t know.”  Sighing Arashi jumped from the tree to the ground and began walking away when the house suddenly burst into flames.

When the cottage burst into flames the little toddler was still trapped in his crib only for it to break and cause the child to fall to the floor.  Arashi ran into the house and quickly made the flames disappear before heading towards the back room where he heard a scream from the toddler and then howls of pain.  Arashi easily parted the flames as every member of Shadow Phoenix clan was a pyromancer and they could easily control and bend fire to their will.  When Arashi burst into the back room he saw the child bleeding out on the floor from a slash across one of the boy’s arms.  Growling in his throat he ignored the smell of the blood and quickly removed a dead child from his robes, injected the dying child’s blood into the dead child and cast a glamor over the child to make it appear like the dying infant.  Gathering the child in his arms Arashi and the toddler disappeared in a flash of black flames.

Professor Dumbledore stared in shock and horror at the house that was still burning. The dark mark hovered over the house.  Dumbledore stood with a bundle wrapped in a blanket and disappeared from Godric’s Hollow.  He sighed as he knew Neville Longbottom had no other living relatives so he would have to be placed in an orphanage.  The idea made him shudder as Tom had grown up in an orphanage after his mother’s death and had turned into a dark lord.  Would Neville eventually revert into another dark lord if he was left in an orphanage?  Dumbledore sighed. For once the great wizard of the light was at a loss as to what to do.

Dumbledore knew he needed to shape the Longbottom boy into a weapon and the only way he could do that was if he left the boy with someone who would abuse and mistreat the child so that when the savior of the wizarding world came to Hogwarts then Dumbledore would be able to shape him to fight the Dark Lord in case the Dark Lord ever returned.  He left the child on the steps of a muggle family and disappeared.

“Albus!” McGonagall came into the headmaster’s office with a look of panic on her face.

“What’s wrong Minerva?”

“The Potters are dead!  Some Ministry officials are there now.  It appears that James and Lily were killed by the Avada Kedavra Curse and Harry’s wrist was slashed.  He bled to death.  We tested his blood and magical signature to be sure but yes it is Harry.”

Albus put his head in his hands.  “Then we have lost our only other chance at defeating the Dark Lord if Neville isn’t up to the challenge.”

“What do you mean Albus?”

“There were two boys that could have been referred to in that prophecy.  One is Neville Longbottom and the other was Harry Potter.   When Voldemort tried to kill Neville he disappeared leaving only a crescent moon scar in the middle of his forehead.  I think that he ordered his death eaters to kill the Potters as well.”

“Why would Voldemort order the murder of the Potters when Harry wasn’t the child of the prophecy?”

“Perhaps he thought it would be safer to order the murders of the two boys who would potentially be his downfall.  I must admit that Tom has points for that.  He was always a clever and bright student.”

“Where is Neville?”

“With Muggles.  It’s the best thing for him if he grows up away from all this before he returns to the wizarding world.  As you know Augusta Longbottom was the last living relative of Neville and I fear what he might have been like if he had been sent to an orphanage. I didn’t want to take the risk that he would end up like Tom.”

Arashi walked into his home.  “Get a healer!” The vampire scurried away to do his king’s bidding.  He laid the infant on the couch and tapped his fingers impatiently.  Soon a healer arrived and bowed before Arashi.  “King Arashi what is it you wish me to do?”

“Heal this child if you can.  Do not turn him as that is going to be my privilege.  I’ve decided this child will become the prince of Shadow Phoenix Clan.”  Arashi used his teeth to bite into his wrist and placed it over the baby’s mouth and watched with concerned eyes as the child swallowed the blood of the vampire king. Raising the child’s bleeding wrist to his mouth he lapped at the blood flowing from the child before placing his wrist over the baby’s wounded wrist.  It screamed as the blood mixed and then Arashi got up.  “Come find me and Yuki when the prince is healed.  I do not expect failure on your part.  My vampire blood should be working but make sure that wound doesn’t leave a scar.”

“As you wish sire,” the vampire said bowing before turning to tend to the little prince.  The healer turned and watched as the blood began to react with the infant’s blood as the wound began to heal.  The infant would be in for a night of pain as its body changed from that of a human into a vampire.  When the bleeding finally stopped the healer got to work fixing the prince’s wound so it wouldn’t scar.  Placing his hand over the prince’s arm he muttered a few words under his breath and watched as the skin knit together leaving no sign that the prince had been left to die.  The healer pulled out bandages to wrap around the infant’s arm to stop the bleeding.

“Yuki I have found us a son and a prince to take over for me in the event of my death,” Arashi said as he sat by his mate on their bed.  “Wizards killed his parents and slashed his wrist leaving him to die.  I stole him from the home and placed a dead child there in his place.”

“How old is he Arashi?”

“He appears to be about fifteen months old.  I left him with a healer but have already turned him.  If I hadn’t taken him when I did he would have died.  It’s why I turned him as well.”

“Yes if he hadn’t been turned then he would have died anyway from the blood loss anyway.  I don’t understand how humans can do that to their kind.”

“They’re different than we are Yuki.  Though I fail to understand how they can so easily kill either.  At least vampires only kill to feed or when defending their territory and home from those who wish them harm. Humans will kill for any stupid reason they can come up with.”

The healer came in with the prince in his arms. “King Arashi and Lady Yuki, your son is healed. Sire, your vampire blood worked to heal the wound but I knit the skin together.  I brought him to you because I knew you would want to watch over him while he undergoes the transformation.”

“Thank you Shade.  Dismissed and tell everybody not to bother us for the rest of the night.”

“Of course sire,” Shade said as he bowed and left the room.

“What will we call him?” Yuki asked her mate.

“Shingetsu Yamazaki.  Prince of the vampires.  I have passed into him all the powers of myself and you.  As such he will be a pureblood.  Though we’ll need to find him a sister soon. You know how purebloods mate with each other in vampire society.”

“True. Though we can worry about that when he is five years old.”

They watched their son scream before finally quieting.  The transformation had changed the child before them.  His hair had lightened to auburn with midnight blue streaks in it and his eyes had changed to violet.  Yuki picked up her prince and set him in the crib in their room before the king and his mate fell asleep on the bed.


	2. Letter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shingetsu means 'new moon' in Japanese. 
> 
> Hana means 'flower' in Japanese.
> 
> Arashi means 'storm' in Japanese.
> 
> Yuki means 'snow' in Japanese.

Four years had passed since Shingetsu had been turned by Arashi and Neville Longbottom had been left at the house of an abusive Muggle family.  “Shingetsu we need to talk to you,” Yuki said to her son.

Shingetsu followed his mother to the courtyard where his father was waiting for them.  “Sit down Shingetsu,” Arashi said.  Shingetsu sat down while his mother took a seat beside his father across from him on the grass. 

“Shingetsu when you were fifteen months old death eaters attacked your home, killed your parents and left you to die.  I had to turn you in order to save you from death.”

“What are death eaters dad?”

“Bad wizards and witches who follow some wizard named Voldemort who likes to pretend he is a dark lord.  In the wizarding world there is the ‘light’ and then there is the ‘dark’.  Voldemort ruled the dark and a man name Dumbledore who is a meddling manipulative fool rules the light. At first I didn’t realize why death eaters would attack you and your parents. Vampires do not usually get into stupid wars between humans as their wars are not the concern of our kind.  There were some that went with Voldemort and the previous Dark Lord, Grindelwald when he was in power but our clan does not involve ourselves in the affairs of humans.”

“Were my parents magical?”

“Apparently so.  You were born a wizard but you are now a vampire. You have been since you were sixteen months old.”  Arashi handed his son a newspaper that was dated October 31, 1981.

**_Longbottom Boy Attacked by Voldemort!_ **

_Last night at 11:58 PM on October 31 st 1981 He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attacked the Longbottoms at Augusta Longbottom’s house killing Auror team Frank and Alice Longbottom along with Frank’s mother Augusta Longbottom.  Then He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named attempted to kill Neville Longbottom only to have the curse backfire and kill the Dark Lord instead!  The only evidence of the attack on the Longbottom boy was a crescent moon scar in the center of his forehead._

_It is believed that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named killed the Longbottoms and attempted to kill the Longbottom boy due to a prophecy that was overheard by a death eater claiming that a child would be born as the seven month died who would be the downfall of the Dark Lord. The magical world has no idea where the Boy-Who-Lived is now as his whereabouts are unknown.  We can only hope that the Boy-Who-Lived will return to us soon._

Shingetsu looked at the second article which was also dated October 31, 1981:

**_Potters Killed in Godric’s Hollow!_ **

_Last night at 11:58 PM when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was attempting to kill Neville Longbottom, death eaters approached the Potter Cottage in Godric’s Hollow and killed James and Lily Potter along with their son Harry James Potter.  Harry Potter was one of two boys who could have defeated the Dark Lord and it is believed that the death eaters were there on You-Know-Who’s request to kill the Potter boy in case he was used to kill He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named along with the Boy-Who-Lived.  Both James and Lily along with Frank and Alice Longbottom were Aurors and part of the Order of the Phoenix, a group set up by Albus Dumbledore, current headmaster of Hogwarts, to fight the Dark Lord during the war.  The wizarding community expresses their deepest sadness that the Potters have been wiped out._

“Dad why did you turn me?”

“You would have died if I hadn’t turned you.  If Dumbledore had gotten to you then he would have figured out a way to save you and then tried manipulating and controlling you if the Longbottom boy were to fail in the event that the Dark Lord returned. You cannot trust Dumbledore or anyone who works with him.  He only cares about power and doesn’t care how he gets that power.”

“Do you regret your father turning you Shingetsu?”

“No mom.  I love being a vampire!” Shingetsu said honestly.  “I don’t remember my birth parents so I don’t have any feelings towards them.”

Yuki and Arashi smiled at their son’s honesty.  They had been afraid that if they told their son about his origins then he would hate them and attempt to kill them.  “You are lucky that your father saved you Shingetsu,” Yuki said to her son.  “When your father turned you any memories you had of that attack vanished but it did not affect your magical core.  According to the humans Harry Potter is dead which protects you because Dumbledore will not be able to use you if you were to go to Hogwarts.”

“Does that mean I can do magic and go to Hogwarts?” Shingetsu asked excitedly.

Arashi and Yuki frowned.  “Yes you should be able to use magic but as for going to Hogwarts we don’t know.  To wizards and witches our kind are seen as ‘dark creatures’ and to non-magical humans we are considered beasts.  The Ministry of Magical Britain has tried killing our kind for seven hundred years.  We aren’t sure if they allow a vampire prince to go to Hogwarts.  They have a registry for all vampires in the ‘being’ division of one of their departments.  You are not registered as we didn’t go there after you were turned and we have no intentions of registering you.”

“Why?”

“Because if a vampire registers with this specific department of Magical Britain then you’ll be subjected to their laws and rules.  You won’t be able to rule Shadow Phoenix Clan if anything were to happen to your mother and I as you would be taken away from the clan and the clan could do nothing about it or else they would be killed.  Vampires, Werewolves, Trolls, Giants, and other creatures of the magical world have no rights.  We are hunted in both the magical and non-magical worlds.  Now do you know why we are the Shadow Phoenix Clan?”

“No dad.”

“We are the Shadow Phoenix Clan because we can turn into Shadow Phoenixes.  Shadow Phoenixes are black phoenixes with gold eyes.  We can shadow flame and shadow travel along with we are pyromancers.  Pyromancers can control and bend fire.  Shadow traveling is when we use the shadows to travel from one place to another. The shadows will obey you as we can control them as well,” Yuki said.

“As you know we can walk in daylight and the night.  The vampire legend that says that vampires will burn in sunlight are false.  At least it is that way for the Shadow Phoenix Clan.  We can turn into a shadow phoenix, a wolf, a bat and a rat with ease. Those are the only four forms we can take-three normal and one magical.  After all we wouldn’t be able to bend fire if we couldn’t walk around in the sunlight.  Our fire ability is only hindered during the solar eclipse when the moon passes between the sun and the earth.  We also have to eat food and blood in order to survive as you well know.”

“If you go to Hogwarts Shingetsu then we will send someone to guard you as well.  We’ll also need to get you a familiar, probably a big cat of some sort that will be able to protect you.  We expect you to stay strong in your studies if you are able to attend this magical school and remember that you represent our clan and us as your parents and the rulers of Shadow Phoenix Clan.”

On Shingetsu’s eleventh birthday he saw an owl fly into the courtyard where he was sitting with his seven year old sister Hana.  The vampire prince and princess stared at the owl that hooted and flew up into the tree.  “It appears the owl knows what we are and is afraid you’ll feed on it,” Yuki said laughing as she approached them and sat down beside her children.  Arashi looked up from the book he was reading at the owl.  “What did the owl bring?”

Shingetsu picked up the envelope which read:

_Mr. Shingetsu Yamazaki_

_Second bedroom of palace_

_Shadow Phoenix Clan_

_Scotland_

Shingetsu turned the letter over and saw a strange seal that had a lion, serpent, eagle and badger surrounding the letter “H”.  “Dad what’s this weird crest on the back?” He handed the envelope to his father who looked at it in shock. 

“That is the Hogwarts seal. It appears this is a letter from Hogwarts Shingetsu.”

Arashi handed the envelope back to his son and watched as Shingetsu pulled two pieces of parchment out.

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Headmaster: Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore_

_Dear Mr. Yamazaki,_

_You are hereby accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  Enclosed is a list of supplies you will need at Hogwarts.  Term begins on September 1 st. _

_Sincerely,_

_Minerva McGonagall_

_Deputy Headmistress_

“It appears you’re going to Hogwarts after all,” Yuki said looking at her mate before turning back to smile at her children.  “Then we should go shopping for your supplies, get you a familiar, and figure out who will be going with you to Hogwarts.”


	3. Vampire Prince

The next day the vampire royal family along with eight guards went to Diagon Alley to get Shingetsu’s school supplies.  Then they went to Ollivander’s to get Shingetsu a wand.  Leaving the guards outside with Hana and Yuki, Shingetsu and Arashi went into the wand shop.

“May I help you?” Ollivander asked as he came out of the back room of his shop.

“My son is going to Hogwarts,” Arashi said.

Ollivander pulled out a wand.  “Dragon Heartstring, 12 inches, Cherry.  Give it a wave.”

Shingetsu took the wand and set the wand maker’s beard on fire.  “Obviously not,” Ollivander said snatching the wand out of the vampire prince’s hand.  “Here try this one. Vine, 14 inches, unicorn hair.”

Shingetsu waved it and the lights in the ceiling exploded.  Ollivander hurriedly snatched it back.  He tried twenty more wands before Ollivander decided to take him into the back room where he made custom wands.  Inside were a cauldron and two tables.  One table had different wand woods on it and the other table had different cores on it.  “Please wave your hand over the cores until you feel a strong pull.  Then wave the core or cores over the wand woods until you feel a strong pull over the wand wood of your choice and then finally select the gem.”

Shingetsu waved his hand over the cores and selected phoenix feather and Dementor ash.   His wand wood was Hawthorn while the gem was an onyx.  Tying them together he sank his teeth into his wrist and let his blood soak into the wood which began to glow as the vampire blood was absorbed.  He handed the ingredients to Ollivander who threw them into the cauldron and five minutes later pulled it out.  Then he carved a wolf along with the rune for ‘vampire’ onto the wand.  “There you go.  Hawthorn infused with vampire blood, phoenix feather and Dementor ash, thirteen inches.”

Shingetsu took his wand and left the shop with his father.  Arashi was laughing at the memory of his son setting the wizard’s beard on fire.  They proceeded to the pet shop and entered.  “See anything you like?” Yuki asked her son.  There were rats, monkeys, cats, ferrets and toads lining the cages in the front of the store.  “No.  I need something that can protect me and none of these can.”

“There are some large cats and other exotic animals in the back,” the shop owner said.  “You’re welcome to go back there and look.  Let me know what you find.”

They walked into the back of the store where they saw some wolves and a variety of large cats. There was a lion, a tiger, leopard, king cheetah, fox, a couple of cougars, and some other large and deadly animals.  Shingetsu walked over to the panther that was lying in its cage looking at him. Shingetsu knelt down and the cat got up and moved gracefully towards Shingetsu. Shingetsu slipped a hand between the bars of the cage and stared into the animal’s eyes before petting the animal’s head.  “I want this one dad,” Shingetsu said removing his hand and standing.

Shingetsu took the panther out and it moved to his side at once before they went into the front of the shop.  Shingetsu placed a gold collar set with onyx and moonstones around the cat’s neck and took the leash the shop keeper handed him to fasten on to the panther’s collar.  They paid for the panther and then left the shop.  “What are you going to name him?” Arashi asked his son.

“Nightmare,” Shingetsu said placing a hand on Nightmare’s head and stroking the soft velvet feeling fur.  Nightmare had emerald green eyes.  “Dad will I be going on the Hogwarts Express?”

“No you and Titus will be shadow flaming to the edge of Hogwarts and will be met by two professors of that school.  You’ll be sorted after the other first years.”

September first arrived and Neville was dropped off at Kings Cross Station by the Muggle family who had been taking care of him for the past ten years. He had been beaten and forced to do all the chores and cooking in the house.   He looked around for someone to help him as he didn’t see any Platform 9 ¾.  Seeing a red haired family with an owl he followed them until they stopped between the barriers of Platforms 9 and 10.

“Percy you go first and Fred and George you follow him.  Ron you go after the twins and I’ll follow with Ginny,” Mrs. Weasley said.  Neville watched the children in interest but a crowd appeared in front of the oldest boy and when the crowd dispersed the boy was gone.  Neville stared in shock and tried to watch the twins as they went through the barrier but couldn’t figure out how they were in front of him one minute and then gone the next.  Finally he decided there was nothing for it and he would have to speak to the red haired woman if he wanted to go to Hogwarts.

“Excuse me miss.  Do you know how to get onto the platform?” Neville asked politely.

“Hogwarts dear?  Just walk through the barrier between Platforms 9 and 10 and you’ll be at Platform 9 ¾.  Best to do it at a run if you’re nervous.  Go on ahead before Ron.”

Neville swung his trolley around to face the platform and closed his eyes as he ran towards the platform.  Any second now he was going to hit the brick wall.  But when he opened his eyes he found himself on a platform with a sign overhead saying “Platform 9 ¾” with a scarlet steam engine sitting on the tracks waiting for students to board.  “I did it,” Neville gasped as his eyes widened in amazement.

The boy named Ron came through and then the red haired woman and the little girl after him.  “Best hurry onto the train dear,” Mrs. Weasley said looking at Neville. “You don’t want to miss going to Hogwarts do you?”

“No ma’am,” Neville said. He took the cage containing his black eagle owl he’d named Styx and his trunk off the trolley before he began dragging his trunk towards the train.  He set Styx’s cage down and tried to lift his trunk onto the train.

“Need some help?” Neville looked up to see the twins looking at him.

“Yes please,” Neville said.  “I don’t know why they can’t make the trunks lighter or make it easier to get belongings onto the train.”

“I’m Fred and this is George,” one of the twins said.

“Pleasure to meet you.  Are you a Muggle? Where are your parents?”

“I’m a pureblood.  My parents are dead.”

“Sorry to hear that.  What’s your name?”

“Neville Longbottom,” Neville said wondering why the twins were asking him so many questions.

“You’re the Boy-Who-Lived!” George and Fred said together.

“Uh yeah,” Neville said with a shrug of his shoulders.  “Are you going to help me with my trunk or not?”

Fred and George lifted Neville’s trunk onto the train and jumped off. Neville picked up Styx’s cage and dragged his trunk along the train looking for an empty compartment.  He noticed that many of the compartments weren’t full but he didn’t feel like sitting with anyone at the moment.  Finally he found a compartment to himself, set Styx’s cage down on a seat, lifted his trunk onto the luggage rack before him and collapsed in the seat next to Styx.  He opened Styx’s cage and allowed Styx to fly around the compartment flying up to perch on the luggage rack.

A few moments later the same red haired boy with freckles he had seen earlier opened the compartment door.  “Can I sit here? Everywhere else is full,” the boy said.

“Actually no the train isn’t even close to being full,” Neville said.  “I don’t see why you have to lie.” Neville pulled out a book on Herbology and began reading it while continuing to ignore Ron.  He heard the boy huff and the door close. When he looked up the boy was gone.  “I suppose people are only going to bother seeing me as the Boy-Who-Lived and not on my own merits,” Neville sighed shaking his head.

The rest of the train ride went smoothly and thankfully nobody else tried entering Neville’s compartment.  Finally the train slowed and came to a stop. Neville had already changed into his wizard robes and put Styx back in his cage.  “I’ll see you at the castle Styx,” Neville said looking at his friend. Styx gave a small hoot and Neville left the train with the other students.

“First years over here! Come on over this way! First years!”

Neville followed the sound of the voice until he came to a man with bushy hair and a wild beard that made him look scary.  “Hi Hagird,” Neville said to the game keeper.

“Hi Neville,” Hagrid said.  “Okay is everyone here?” Hagrid asked looking around at the first years clustered together.  “Right then follow me.  We’ll be going across the Black Lake to get to Hogwarts.  It’s tradition you see.”

The first years followed Hagrid down to the Black Lake where they were instructed to get into boats.  Neville was joined by a girl with bushy brown hair, the red head from earlier much to his displeasure, and a black boy who introduced himself as Dean Thomas.  Hagrid got a boat all to himself.  “Keep your hands in the boat and don’t do anything stupid,” Hagrid said.  Then the boats were off sailing across the lake.

“You’ll be getting your first glimpse of Hogwarts in a bit,” Hagrid said.  As they rounded the bend in the lake they saw a majestic castle with lots of towers and turrets looming above them. Lights shone in all the windows and the students marveled at the sight.  “Watch your heads,” Hagrid said as they approached a concealed harbor that was a cave filled with water.  They docked at the shore and climbed out before following Hagrid up the stairs and stopping at a set of double oak doors. Hagrid knocked and a woman with glasses and a stern look on her face opened the doors.

“First years Professor,” Hagrid said.

“Thank you Hagrid.  You should go to the Great Hall.”

Hagrid smiled at the first years and then left for the Great Hall. The first years stood in a line in front of the stern looking witch.  “Good evening.  My name is Professor McGonagall and welcome to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.  You will be sorted into your house in a few moments.  While at Hogwarts your house will be like your family for the next seven years.  The four houses are Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin. Each house has turned out great witches and wizards and each house has their own traits and noble history.  Points will be earned by answering questions and any rule breaking will lose you house points.  I will come for you when it is time to begin the sorting.  Until then please be quiet and straighten up.”

The first years began whispering as to what the sorting would consist of.  Neville just rolled his eyes at some of the theories of how they would be sorted.  “We get sorted by a hat,” the bushy haired girl said. “I read it in Hogwarts: A History. Honestly does nobody bother to read their course books before they enter Hogwarts?”

Suddenly a student screamed.  Neville looked up and saw ghosts coming through the wall talking with themselves.  A fat monk saw them and smiled.  “First year students!  I’m the Fat Friar and the ghost of Hufflepuff House. Hope to see you in my house!”

“Move along now,” Professor McGonagall said coming back into the Entrance Hall.  The ghosts disappeared and Professor McGonagall stood looking at the students in front of her.  “Form into a line and follow me.”

The students followed Professor McGonagall down the hallway as the older students fell silent and stared at the first years.  Neville was a bit nervous and knew that people would expect a lot of him since he was the Boy-Who-Lived.  The students lined up in front of the entrance hall and the hat sang before Professor McGonagall began calling out names.  Finally they got into the L’s which Neville had been dreading. “Longbottom, Neville!”

“The Boy-Who-Lived is at Hogwarts!”

“Neville Longbottom? _The_ Neville Longbottom?”

Whispers followed Neville as he made his way to the stool and sat down.  The hat barely touched his head before it shouted ‘GRYFFINDOR!’  The red and gold table stood up and clapped as Neville made his way over to the table beside Hermione Granger, the bushy haired girl with buck teeth that made her look like a beaver.

Professors Snape and McGonagall stood outside in the cold waiting for the vampire prince and his guard to arrive.  Snape couldn’t understand why the headmaster had allowed the vampire prince to come to Hogwarts.  They were on the edge of the Forbidden Forest staring out into the trees when three figures emerged from the shadows.  The full moon shone and the smaller figure stopped halfway to the professors and looked up at the moon with a smile on his face.  The man beside him halted and waited as the boy continued to stand there.

“Prince Shingetsu is something wrong?” Titus asked his young master.

“I know of how humans treat our kind Titus. The muggles see us as monsters and the witches and wizards see us as evil along with werewolves. They don’t bother to understand our laws and how vampire society works.  How am I to be sure that the humans won’t kill me for what I am?” Shingetsu said lowering his head to stare at the vampire in front of him.

Titus sighed.  The young prince was afraid that he would be harmed by the humans who had invited him to this school of magic.  Though the prince was a wizard vampire Titus couldn’t help but wonder why exactly his young master had been invited to Hogwarts in the first place when the last vampire to enter Hogwarts had been Titus himself twenty years ago.

“Young prince I promise I will protect you from the humans.  Nightmare will also protect you as well sire.  The humans can’t do anything to you without starting a war between the vampires and the magical humans.”

“That may be so Titus but things have not been easy for our kind for centuries.  I do not trust these humans or their Ministry but I am happy that I am able to come here and complete my wizarding training even if I am a vampire.”

“Sire I swear on my life and blood that I will protect you even if it means sacrificing myself,” Titus said bowing.  “The humans are staring at us.  We should get inside so you can begin your seven years of magical education.”

Shingetsu nodded.  “I don’t see how we’re going to be able to hunt since we’re under ‘strict orders’ not to feed on the student body or the humans in the surrounding village,” Shingetsu grumbled.

“There’s some blood lollipops in your trunk sire but I know what you mean. We can’t survive on animal blood and I don’t know what we will do without being able to hunt.”

“If necessary we can always shadow travel and hunt somewhere outside of these grounds.  I wonder what these humans would think if they discovered that vampire can walk about in the day and night without fear of catching on fire like their legends say.”

The vampire prince and his guard walked towards the two humans who stiffened at their approach. “If you’ll follow us Mr. Yamazaki then we will take you to the Great Hall to be sorted into your house.”

“What is that panther doing here?!” Snape exclaimed.

“The panther is the prince’s familiar human,” Titus said with a low growl.  “It stays with the prince or we will turn and leave Hogwarts.  My king decided his son would need a familiar to defend him in case he is attacked by your kind.  Here’s the letter that I was instructed to give to the deputy headmistress of this school saying that my young master’s familiar is to attend all classes with him. Nightmare is well behaved and won’t attack anyone as long as they don’t attack or threaten my prince.” Titus removed an envelope from the pocket of his black leather jacket.  “Now can we please go into the castle? Neither of us fancy sleeping out here tonight.”

“Of course,” Professor McGonagall said looking at Titus and the little prince.  “Please follow us.  Oh and my name is Professor McGonagall, deputy headmistress and transfiguration teacher and the man beside me is Professor Snape, potions master.”

Titus handed Professor McGonagall the envelope and they followed the two professors into the entrance hall.  “Sire I will wait here until I find out your house and then take Nightmare and your trunk to your dorm.”

“Very well Titus,” Shingetsu said placing a kiss on Nightmare’s head.  “When will I be sorted Professor McGonagall?”

“In a minute. I just have to alert the headmaster of your arrival and prepare the students.”

Shingetsu nodded and watched the two professors go through the double doors that must have led into the Great Hall.  “I’m starving,” Shingetsu muttered as his stomach rumbled.  Titus smiled.  “If you don’t eat anything I’ll see about the house elves giving you something to eat Shingetsu when you get to your dorm.”

“Thank you Titus.  My parents made a good choice by choosing you to go with me to Hogwarts.”

“Actually your highness I asked to come.  It’s boring being at Nightshade with nothing to do.”

Shingetsu laughed at his friend.  “I don’t blame you for volunteering to come with me to Hogwarts.  I wouldn’t have wanted anyone else with me.”

In the Great Hall Professor Snape took his seat and Professor McGonagall spoke in the headmaster’s ear before taking her seat beside him.  Albus Dumbledore stood up and the students fell silent.  “For the next seven years we will be graced with the presence of the vampire prince.  I would like you all to welcome Prince Shingetsu Yamazaki,” Dumbledore said.  The doors to the Great Hall swung open and everyone stared at the eleven year old vampire prince who had auburn hair with midnight blue streaks running through and violet eyes.  Shingetsu walked towards the stool and sat down with the sorting hat on his head.

_“Ah another vampire I see.  We haven’t had one since Titus Fang came to Hogwarts twenty years ago.”_

_“That is the vampire who is with me to watch over me while at Hogwarts and keep me safe from the humans’ hat.”_

_“Well little prince I think you will do well in Ravenclaw or Gryffindor.  You certainly have the mind to fit into Ravenclaw as they prize book smarts and you are certainly smart for a vampire.  You also have bravery and courage which means you would do well in Gryffindor. I can see you also have a lot of power for one so young.  You are loyal to your nation, family and friends and a hard worker which means you’d be good being in Hufflepuff.  Yet at the same time you worry for your kind and your safety at Hogwarts among humans which is understandable.  Better be_ GRYFFINDOR!”

Shingetsu stood up and placed the hat on the stool before walking over to the lion table and taking a seat.  Everyone was staring at him and whispers started up again.  With disappointment Shingetsu saw that the feast had ended.  **_Titus!_**

**_Yes sire?_ **

**_I got into Gryffindor and the hat appears to know you.  Please take Nightmare and my trunk up to my dormitory and ask the house elves to make me something to eat.  Get something for yourself too as well and maybe some meat for Nightmare.  It figures that we would get here and the feast would be over._ **

Titus laughed in Shingetsu’s mind and broke the telepathic connection leaving Shingetsu alone.  He stared at the humans around him who were watching him warily.  **They already think I’m a monster and they don’t even know me.  Their fear is coming off them in waves and they don’t even realize it.**

“Now I have a few words.  No magic is to be practiced in the corridors or between classes.  Stay away from the Forbidden Forest and away from the third floor corridor.  Now off you trot! Big day tomorrow!”

Shingetsu followed the other first years out of the Great Hall and up seven floors before reaching a portrait of a fat lady in a pink dress.  “Hogsmeade Sweets,” Percy said and the portrait swung outward allowing the students to climb through the hole into the common room.  “Boys dorms are on the right and girls’ dorms are on the left.  I should mention that girls’ dorms do not allow boys to enter.  You will find your trunks in your dorm at the foot of your beds.  Get up tomorrow at 7AM because I will be taking you to the Great Hall and then showing you to your first class.”

Shingetsu followed the other five boys up to his dorm. There was Dean Thomas, Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnegan, Ron Weasley, and Tobias Moon.  Shingetsu smiled as he saw Nightmare on the floor hungrily eating a haunch of deer meat while the others just looked in disgust at the panther.  Ron saw the food plate of food sitting on Shingetsu’s nightstand and made to grab it when Shingetsu grabbed the boy’s wrist and used his other hand to pluck the roll out of Ron’s other hand.  “That’s my dinner so I suggest you keep your hands to yourself,” Shingetsu said in a deadly voice. Nightmare looked up from his plate and growled at Ron who quickly got into his bed.

Shingetsu grabbed his tray and sat on his bed before waving his wand at his drapes which closed and blocked him off from view.  He looked at the roast chicken, chocolate pudding, fruit salad, and goblet of blood in front of him.  He sighed as the hot blood went down his throat though it wasn’t as satisfying as human blood. No animal blood was as wonderful as human blood.  **I should have made Titus take me hunting before we came to Hogwarts.**

Shingetsu continued eating his meal before he set it on the nightstand and watched it disappear back to the kitchens.  He changed into his pajamas and Nightmare jumped up onto the bed before Shingetsu climbed under the blanket and waved his wand again at the drapes.  He closed his eyes and lay there listening to the five other boys talking about him.

“That’s a vampire! What the hell is a vampire doing here?! And why does he have a panther?!”

“Calm down Ron,” Dean said.  “I don’t think the panther will attack us as long as we don’t attack the vampire prince.  Did you not listen to anything Dumbledore said in the Great Hall?”

**So that is the fool father and mother told me about when I was five years old.**

“Yeah something about a vampire prince would be gracing us with his presence for the next seven years.  Vampires are dark creatures or don’t you know that Dean?”

“I’m a muggleborn.  In our society vampires are monsters that feed on the blood of the living and rise from the graves after they are turned.  They have no soul or morals,” Dean said.  “I don’t know what vampires mean in the wizarding world.”

“Vampires are creatures of evil. Vampires and werewolves are the two darkest creatures in our society.  They aren’t even allowed to own wand without the Ministry’s permission.  They cannot be trusted.”

“I think he seems nice,” Tobias said softly.  “I wouldn’t mind making friends with him if he would let me.  It can’t be easy being the only one of your species in a different environment from what you are used to dealing with.  And really if you are going to be biased against creatures then perhaps you are the ones who don’t belong here.”

“What do you think Neville?” Seamus asked.

“I know that vampires side with the Dark Lord so I can’t trust him. I can’t trust any dark creature.”

“Seamus?” Ron asked.

“I don’t know.  How can I make a decision based on what I have heard without knowing what the vampire kid is like? That isn’t fair to him.”

“Well I’m not going to ever be friends with that vampire! In fact Tobias if you like him so much take my bed because I refuse to sleep next to him!”

Shingetsu heard the argument and tears spilled down his face as he heard the prejudice from four of his dorm mates.  He had known this would happen when he was announced to the Great Hall but he had hoped that his dorm mates would give him a chance before shunning him.  **Why would they? These children are just as prejudiced and bigoted against vampires as their ancestors.  I was a fool to hope it would miraculously change just because I wanted it to do so.** He heard the sound of a trunk being dragged to the bed on his left and the voices faded into silence.  “Goodnight Shingetsu,” Tobias said softly as he looked at the drapes surrounding the vampire prince’s bed before he drifted into dreams.


	4. Friend of the Vampire

Shingetsu woke at dawn the next morning and slipped out of bed.  Nightmare awoke as well and jumped lightly to the floor before following Shingetsu into the bathroom.  Shingetsu turned on the faucets and removed his pajamas before stepping into the tub and sighing in relief as the hot water caressed his aching body.  If he was lucky he would make a friend of Tobias but the others were all bigoted against creatures. Nightmare jumped into the bath with him which surprised Shingetsu.

“Are you telling me you want a bath too Nightmare?” Shingetsu asked raising a hand to pat Nightmare’s wet head.

_Yes master._

“Who said that?” Shingetsu asked looking around. The voice had been in his head instead of spoken words.  “Nightmare did I just hear your thoughts?”

_Yes. Because we are bonded magically I can project my thoughts to you and if you concentrate you can do the same to me master._

Shingetsu cautiously extended his mind out to Nightmare’s and felt a green mental line intersecting with his own black line. He knew the black line was his own mental line so that must mean that when his parents had completed the bonding between him and Nightmare shortly after buying the panther that they shared some type of mental link.  **Then why did I not notice it before?  I’m a vampire.** _Nightmare can you hear me?_

_I heard your thought just now.  I think the reason we have never been able to communicate before now is because it takes some time for the mental bond to develop between a person and their familiar.  Do you wish me to call you ‘master’ or by your first name?_

_Call me Shingetsu. That is my name after all.  ‘Master’ sounds odd._

Laughter was heard along the mental link. _What has you sad Shingetsu? Are you missing your parents and sister in Nightshade?_

_Yes. I’ve never been away from home before except when with dad and mom to walk amongst the vampire villages.  Being around this many humans and unable to feed or hunt is annoying.  I can’t survive on just animal blood; no vampire can. We need human blood and food to live and survive but that the head master won’t allow me or Titus to hunt off grounds.  And my dorm mates, except for Tobias Moon I think, hate me without even getting to know me.  I have a feeling it is going to be a long seven years at this school._

_Perhaps if you give the humans time to get used to your presence they will realize what fools they are for judging you before getting to know you. What is going to happen to Titus while he is here?_

_I think Titus is going to be a professor of some sort though I am not sure what class that would be._

_Are you going to be befriend this ‘Tobias Moon’ human?_

_It would be good to have a friend but I’m scared that he would reject me for being a ‘dark creature’.  Though last night when they thought I was asleep Tobias seemed like he wouldn’t mind becoming my friend. But that could have been an act or he could have been sincere.  You know the Ministry of Magical Britain doesn’t believe that dark creatures are able to coexist with humans.  It is true that we feed on humans to survive but that is not our fault. It his how vampires are made. We must take the blood of the living to live just as humans have to kill animals to survive but yet humans don’t care about how some animals are treated while waiting for slaughter._

_May I make a suggestion Shingetsu?_

_Of course Nightmare._

_Get to know Tobias Moon.  You need a friend in this school besides Titus and myself. Give the humans time to get to know you and show them that being a dark creature is nothing to be feared.  Perhaps you can change some humans minds to vampires and make some friends amongst them in the process.  You will need others of your own age to be friends with if you hope to survive seven years of magical education._

_You’re right Nightmare.  Thank you._

Shingetsu was quiet as he continued his bath and then he threw on some clothes and packed his book bag with quills, ink bottles and parchment.  He would run upstairs after breakfast when he got his schedule to put the books he would need for the day’s classes before heading off to his first class.  Shingetsu hefted his bag on his shoulders and went down to the common room to wait for his dorm mates and the first year girls to wake up before being led down to the Great Hall for breakfast.

**_Titus! Are you awake?_ **

**_Prince Shingetsu? What is it? Is something wrong?_ **

**_Are you teaching any classes at all while at Hogwarts?_ **

**_A class called Dark Creatures.  It’s a new class put in by Albus Dumbledore sire.  I’ll be teaching it for all seven years while you’re at school here._ **

**_I see.  Are you going to go down to breakfast Titus?_ **

**_I can’t teach on an empty stomach._ **

Laughter sprang up through the mental link between the vampire prince and his friend who was now a professor and his guard.  **_True I don’t think anyone can concentrate on school or teach effectively without having any breakfast in the morning. The humans do say it is the most important meal of the day._**

Shingetsu sighed and tapped his fingers against the arm rest as he stared into the empty fireplace.  The Gryffindor prefects came downstairs and shortly after the first year girls came down from their dorms as well with their book bags slung over their shoulders.   Five minutes after the girls came down the rest of Shingetsu’s dorm mates came down the stairs. Tobias saw Shingetsu and immediately walked over to him before sitting down beside him.

“How was your night Prince?” Tobias asked looking at the vampire prince nervously.

“Not well. Call me Shingetsu,” Shingetsu said to the boy.  “The panther is Nightmare. He’s my familiar.”

“My name is Tobias Moon.  I’m a muggleborn.  I didn’t even know magic existed until I got my letter.”

“I imagine many people who are raised in the non-magical human world think magic is nothing but fantasy. The same way they think my kind are evil dangerous creatures of legend,” Shingetsu commented dryly. “Why aren’t you afraid of me Tobias?”

“I know what it is like to be judged and treated differently for who you are.  It isn’t right and people would get along better if they got to know others who they saw as different instead of instantly judging them.  I’m a muggleborn so I have to deal with purebloods like Ron Weasley thinking they’re better than me just because my relatives don’t have any magical blood in them.  But even when I was at elementary school I never had friends because I’m shy and like reading books. I don’t know what it is like to be a vampire Shingetsu but I would like to be your friend if that isn’t against your laws.”

Shingetsu looked in shock and amazement at Tobias.  The human had a point about humans who were different were needlessly judged without others getting to know them before they passed biased judgments.  He had read about this occurring plenty of times through human history in his eleven years of life. Whites in Colonial U.S. up until the 1960s had thought they were superior to Africans and had forcefully enslaved them against their will.  European settlers had slaughtered dozens upon dozens of Native American tribes when they came to North America and then sentenced them to a lifetime of poverty, gambling and alcoholism to a life on reservations after stealing their land and then trying to steal their children because the so called ‘Christians’ couldn’t bother to respect the first people of North America, American women who married Chinese men in the 1800s had lost their American citizenship which appeared to be rarely talked about in American History classes in the human world, empires had risen and fallen due to jealousy of heirs and greed, and religions were often at war with each other throughout history.  **If more people were like Tobias and racism, ageism, and the other problems facing the human race were eliminated then the world would be better.  Sure the human race has had good leaders such as Malcolm X, Gandhi, Mother Theresa, Buddha, etc. but it seems there have been more evil bigoted people in power than good leaders.**

“No it isn’t against our laws to befriend humans. We rarely do because they see us as monsters and would gladly turn on us in a heartbeat.  A few of my kind have human friends but we mostly stick with our kind. When you’re hunted by humans and have to feed on their blood to survive you learn that you can’t easily trust them. It takes a lot of hard work on the human’s part to show they aren’t a threat to the vampire they befriend and to the vampire nation.”

“Okay everyone our Head of House, Professor McGonagall would like to say something to everyone so sit in a circle and don’t interrupt,” Mary Broom, the Gryffindor female prefect, said.

The stern looking witch Shingetsu had seen before outside Hogwarts and then in the Great Hall at his sorting came into the common room from the direction of the Fat Lady portrait and stood in the center of the room looking at the first years.  “Good morning young lions.  I am Professor McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House and also Transfiguration Professor at Hogwarts.  Our house was founded by Godric Gryffindor and our mascot is the lion.  Godric was one of the four founders of Hogwarts.  Rowena Ravenclaw is the founder of Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff is the founder of Hufflepuff and Salazar Slytherin is the founder of Slytherin.  Gryffindor and Slytherin have been rivals ever since Salazar left Hogwarts shortly after the founding of the school and nobody knows why.  While at Hogwarts I expect you all to be on your best behavior.  I am not a professor to be crossed. The password is changed every Monday and will be on your nightstand so memorize them as the paper will burn after you see the password.  If you forget your password then you will be locked out of the common room until another student from Gryffindor either comes out of our house or is going to enter the house.  If you have any issues with anyone in your house or in your classes please come to see me or one of the prefects,” gesturing at Mary Broom and Jet Travis.  “Now here are your schedules,” holding up a stack of papers and passing them around the group of first years.  “I suggest you all get your things packed before you head down to the Great Hall for breakfast.”

_1991-1992 School Year:_

_Sunday-Saturday: Breakfast 7:30-9AM_

_Monday: Double Defense Against the Dark Arts 9AM-11 AM, Herbology with the Hufflepuffs 11AM-12:30 PM, Double History of Magic 1:30-2:30 PM_

_Tuesday: Charms 9AM-11 AM, Free Period 11-12:30, History of Magic 1:30-2:00 PM, Study Period 2:00-3:00 PM, Transfiguration with Ravenclaw 3:00-4:30 PM_

_Wednesday: Defense Against the Dark Arts 9AM-11 AM, Astronomy 12-1AM, Herbology with Hufflepuff 11AM-12:30 PM_

_Thursday: Charms 9AM-11AM, Free Period 11AM-12:30 PM, History of Magic 1:30-2:30 PM, Transfiguration with Ravenclaw 3:00-4:30 PM_

_Friday: Herbology 9AM-11 AM, Dark Creatures 11:00 AM-12:30 PM, Double Potions with the Slytherins 1:30-3:00 PM_

_Lunch from 12:30-1:30 PM Sunday to Saturday, Dinner from 4:30-6:30 PM Sunday to Saturday_

_Flying lessons on the flying field with Madam Hooch on Thursday of the Second Week_

_Curfew is at 9PM. All students MUST be in their dorms by then to avoid losing house points and receiving detention._

Everyone went upstairs to their dorms to get their DADA, Herbology and History of Magic textbooks before coming back downstairs to the common room where the prefects were waiting.  “Everyone ready to go?” Mary asked smiling at the first years who nodded.  “We’ll take you the Great Hall for breakfast and then escort you to your first class.  Then we’ll pick you up at the end of your first class and take you to your second.”

The first year Ravenclaws followed their two prefects down to the Great Hall for breakfast.  Tobias sat next to Shingetsu and Nightmare went under the table to lie down at Shingetsu’s feet.  Titus was sitting at the staff table with the other professors and the headmaster.  Dumbledore stood up when everyone had gathered in the Great Hall.  “Good morning students.  Allow me to make an announcement that I didn’t get to make last night.  We have a new class starting called ‘Dark Creatures’ and it is going to be taught by our resident vampire professor, Professor Fang.  This class will be for the next seven years while the vampire prince and his guard are at Hogwarts.  I hope you have a wonderful day back at Hogwarts!”

The students looked up at Professor Fang who appeared tired.  “Titus isn’t a morning person,” Shingetsu said with amusement in his voice to Tobias. “We’ll have class with him on Friday according to our schedules we got.”

**_Titus why are you awake?_ **

**_The headmaster thought I should teach some morning classes.  I think it’s just a way to keep tabs on me and you master.  I caught him trying to enter my mind when I came to the Great Hall.  Fortunately wizards and witches can’t break through vampire occulumency shields._ **

**_Keep your mind blocked from everyone except me Titus. It would be most unpleasant if the humans found out where our nation is._ **

**_Yes my prince._ **

Shingetsu drank the goblet of rabbit blood that was served with his meal and hungrily ate the pancakes, beef sausage, scrambled eggs and toast with strawberry jam.  Tobias looked at Shingetsu in amazement.

“What?”

“I thought vampires couldn’t eat food?”

“That’s a myth invented by humans. We need human blood and food to survive.  Other myths that aren’t true are crossing running water, burning in sunlight, garlic, holy water and crosses.  We can die if we’re stabbed through the heart or decapitated.”

“You don’t burn in sunlight?”

“No. We can walk around in both the day and the night.  The Moon Clan prefers the night as their water ability is strongest when the moon is out.  Their water element increases during the full moon once a month.  Everyone in the Shadow Phoenix Clan, which is my clan, is a fire elemental. We can bend and control fire to our will.  The Twilight Clan can control air, the Leopard Clan can control earth and the Moon Clan can control water.”

Tobias fell silent after that thinking on what he had learned from Shingetsu.  Shingetsu seemed to suddenly appear his age instead of the vampire prince he had met last night at the end of the feast on the sorting.  “Do you have many friends in the vampire nation?”

“Titus and a few children around my age who aren’t scared to be friends with their prince but no not a lot.  I hoped when I would come here that I could make friends but aside from you it seems everyone in our dorm doesn’t want to get to know me. Instead they judge me and my kind based on fear and prejudice.  I’ve never had a human friend before.  The friends I have are all from the vampire nation.”

“I’d like to be your friend if you’ll let me and it’s okay with your parents.  I wouldn’t want to unintentionally upset the vampire king and queen by befriending their son.”

Shingetsu thought about that as he finished his breakfast.  “I’ll give it a shot but if you betray me or try to kill me then I’ll have no choice but to kill you in retaliation to protect myself and my nation.”

“I understand.  I promise I will do everything to show you that I won’t betray your trust.”

Shingetsu shook hands with Tobias and the two friends got up to make their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts.  Titus watched Shingetsu and the human child and hoped for Shingetsu’s sake that this human didn’t betray Shingetsu and would be his first friend in the magical school of Hogwarts.  His prince would do well to make friends his own age that were humans and he knew King Arashi and Queen Yuki wouldn’t mind their son having a human friend.  That had been one thing they were worried about when Shingetsu had received the letter to Hogwarts; that Shingetsu wouldn’t be able to make friends because of what he was and they didn’t want their son to be lonely in his school where he would be spending seven years of his life.  Titus sighed and got up to prepare for his first Defense Against the Dark Arts class.


	5. Dark Creatures

“Why is a vampire in Hogwarts?”

“Do you think he’s going to kill us all?”

“Don’t vampires side with Dark Lords? Do you think he’s here as a spy for a new Dark Lord?”

“He has pretty eyes.”

Prince Shingetsu shook his head at the whispers that followed him as he made his way to Dark Creatures.  Tobias was on his left and Nightmare on his right, the leash held in Shingetsu’s right hand.  The whispers had followed him every day this past week much to Shingetsu’s annoyance.  He knew also from reading Neville’s mind that he was getting almost the exact same treatment for being the Boy-Who-Lived.  Shingetsu wasn’t sure what they were more interested about; the savior of the wizarding world or the vampire prince who was supposedly to drain them all dry as they slept.

“Are you okay Shingetsu?” Tobias asked his friend.

“Thinking about home is all Tobias.  What about you?  Do you miss your family?”

“Yes.  I like being at Hogwarts but I do miss my family.  Though I can’t imagine what it is like to be the only student of your kind in a school far from your nation.”

“It is difficult but I have Titus here who is not only our Defense Creatures Professor but also my guard and friend.”

They continued walking to Dark Creatures class which was on the fifth floor.  They walked into the classroom and took seats in the back row.  Nightmare lay down against the back wall so he would be out of the way of the students but near enough to Shingetsu so he could protect him if needed.  The rest of the class filed in and took their seats.  Titus appeared moments later through the door that led to his chambers.  He walked to the front of the classroom and looked at the first years.

“Good morning class.  My name is Professor Fang and I teach Dark Creatures.  This class was requested by the headmaster to teach you about dark creatures that you will encounter in the magical world.  Now does anyone have any questions before we begin?”

“Professor what makes you certified to teach this class?”

Titus looked at the student who was speaking.  “Mr. Weasley is it?”  At Ron’s nod Titus sighed.  “That’s a rude question Mr. Weasley but to answer your question I am certified to teach this class because I am a vampire.”

There gasps of shock at the fact that they had a vampire as a professor.  Titus shook his head at his students.  “Why are you here?” Neville asked.  “Why is the vampire prince here?”

“My prince is here because he was given acceptance to Hogwarts.  I am here on bequest of the King and Queen of the vampires to guard their son during his seven years of schooling here and Headmaster Dumbledore offered me this position and this class to teach.  Now as I said at the beginning we will be learning about dark creatures this year.  Who can name some dark creatures for me?”

“Dementors,” Hermione said.

“Vampires,” Neville said glaring in disgust at Titus.

“Werewolves,” Shingetsu said.

“Hags,” Seamus said.

“Very good. These are just some of the creatures we will be studying this year.  Does anyone know the two darkest creatures?”

“Vampires and werewolves Professor Fang,” Dean said.

“Correct Mr. Thomas.  Now for the next three weeks we are going to begin studying vampires.  Please turn to page 700 and we will begin our lesson.”

There was the sound of books opening and pages turning as the flipped to the requested page. Professor Titus wrote the chapter and page number on the board: Chapter 40: Vampires. Page 700.   “Now when I call your name please read two paragraphs of the chapter out loud for the class. The rest of you are expected to follow along and take notes.  Miss Granger if you will.”

 _“Chapter 40: Vampires.  Vampires are perhaps some of the best known mythical creatures in both magical and muggle societies along with their cousins the werewolves.”_   Hermione paused and the class was silent.  None of the humans would have guessed that vampires and werewolves were in fact cousins.  Titus just waved a hand for Hermione to continue reading.   _“Legends of blood sucking fiends who rise from the grave at night in order to drain the blood of virgin girls have been around since ancient times but the legend of the vampire became popular in the muggle world with the book Dracula by Bram Stoker in the year 1897.    A famous mortal named Vlad Dracula , otherwise known as Vlad the Impaler, may have sparked the idea for vampires and been the main idea for the famous vampire novel.  Vlad Dracula was a noble who was born in the year 1431 in Transylvania to the House of Draculseti to father Vlad II  Dracul and mother Cneajna of Moldavia._

_“Vlad Dracula III gained his name from impaling his enemies on wooden stakes.  He ruled in the years 1448, 1456-1462, and 1476.  During that time he inflicted harsh punishments not only on his enemies but also on his subjects in order to keep them in line.  A recorded account describes such a cruelty inflicted by Vlad the Impaler: ‘He roasted children, whom he fed to their mothers. And (he) cut off the breasts of women, and forced their husbands to eat them. After that, he had them all impaled.’  He was assassinated in 1476 at forty-five years old.  It is thanks to this infamous mortal that the legend of vampires was brought back to the world when it had almost died out.”_

The bell rang then.  “I would like you all to read this chapter and take notes on it. Your homework is to write me a two foot essay on vampires due next Friday before class starts.”

The class filed out of the classroom except for Shingetsu and Tobias.  “I’ll be out in a minute Tobias,” Shingetsu said to his friend. Tobias nodded and left the classroom so the two vampires could have some privacy.  “Why did you decide to start with vampires Titus?”

“Prince Shingetsu, Dumbledore suggested that I start with vampires for the first lesson for Dark Creatures.  He thought that since there would be a vampire professor and a vampire student at Hogwarts that the first lesson be vampires so the students could get to know more about us.”

“I doubt learning about vampires aside from what is in a Ministry approved textbook is going to make the humans like us Titus.”

“The young Tobias seems to like you sire,” Titus said.

“He’s the only one.  Still I suppose one human friend is better than none.   Dad and mom will be pleased when I write them.”

Titus pulled out a couple of blood lollipops and handed one to his prince.  “Do you need anything else my Lord?”

“No Titus. If I need anything I know where to find you.  I’m going to go hunting tonight. The blood lollipops and the goblets of animal blood aren’t filling me up.  I suggest you go with me since you’re my guard and we wouldn’t want you being unable to teach the students or worse ‘attacking’ them,” Shingetsu said sneering at the word ‘attacking’. 

Titus nodded.  “How was your first week?”

“Well I have potions after lunch.  My week has been miserable to be honest Titus.  Except for making friends with a human nothing else has changed and I don’t think it will for our kind.  I wonder if the Ministry is aware of our presence at Hogwarts?  I don’t want to think what they will do to us or the nation if they find out we are here.  The law hasn’t been broken for twenty years since you came here yourself when you were a kid.  Still it bugs me that I was offered a position in this school.  By all legal rights according to the Ministry we aren’t allowed here.”

Titus nodded in thought. “It bothers me as well sire but the only thing we can do is watch and not give the humans any reason to fear us.  We best get down to lunch though before we miss it.”

The two vampires walked out of the classroom.  Tobias was leaning against the opposite wall waiting for Shingetsu.  Together the two vampires and one mortal walked down to the Great Hall for lunch.  “Everything okay?” Tobias asked.

“Just stress is all Tobias.  Hunger as well.  I’ll be out tonight with Titus here so cover for me please? We’re going hunting.”

“Can’t you just feed off of me?”

Titus and Shingetsu stopped and stared at the mortal.  “Why would you let two vampires feed off of you?” Titus asked.

“Because Shingetsu is my friend and you seem nice for a… well I don’t know how old you are but you seem nice for a vampire and a professor.”

“You’ve only been in my class one day and you think I’m nice?” Titus asked laughing.  “I’m thirty-eight years old.  We age every year just like humans do.”

“No vampire would ever feed from a friend.  Even the few vampires that have human friends would never think to feed from their human friends for fear of either accidently turning them or draining them dry,” Shingetsu explained.  “Your offer is a bit shocking to us and appreciated but if we were to feed off of the humans here at Hogwarts not only would I be expelled and Titus fired we would be in trouble with the Ministry.  Even if,” he said holding up a hand to stop Tobias’s objection, “the human offered their blood to us willingly.”

“You could also be in trouble with the Ministry of Magic,” Titus said shaking his head.  “The Ministry and the wizarding population would think that we manipulated your mind in order to give us your blood against your will or that we tortured you.  They would never accept a human giving their blood to us of their own free will.”

“We would appreciate it if you not mention anything of the clans or the fact that we can walk in the daytime in your essay,” Titus said.  “If that got out it would disastrous for our nation.”

“How so?”

They had reached the Great Hall by then and Shingetsu shook his head.  “Tell you later when we’re alone.”  Titus made his way to the staff table and Shingetsu and Tobias took their places at the Gryffindor table.  They piled pot roast and baby carrots on their plates and dug in.  “Shingetsu what’s your family like?”

Shingetsu swallowed a mouthful of pot roast before answering.  “My parents are the king and queen of the vampire nation as well as leaders of our clan.  My father’s name is Arashi and my mother is Yuki.  My parents rule our nation and have for six hundred years.  After six centuries they had me and then when I was five had my sister Hana.”

“Why did your parents wait six centuries to have you?”

Shingetsu shook his head.  “Vampires can control when they have children and how many.  There was a war going on between the vampires and the humans for twenty years.  It nearly drove us extinct.  My parents didn’t want to bring a child into that type of mess.  Then another war sparked up ten years later between some vampire clans in the Far East.  After sending some diplomats to try to sort out the problems we had to go to war again which took ten years.  For the next century my father and mother had to build up the vampire nation again because humans took that time in our moment of weakness to begin attacking the clans around the world.

“My sister Hana is a sweet kid.  She looks just like our mom. She loves flowers and being around nature.  She also has a kind heart and is always wanting to help any of our nation in distress.  My parents are also kind and dad is a brilliant leader.  My mom likes to read and enjoys gardening which is where I think my sister got her love of flowers from.  They were happy when I got into Hogwarts though they too wonder why I was given acceptance here.  They bought Nightmare to protect me while at Hogwarts.  In fact I should probably write them a letter telling them how my first week of school went.”

“Are all vampires able to perform magic?”

“All creatures have magic in them but only wizarding vampires can gain acceptance at a magical school.  Titus is a wizard vampire.  He was turned at eight years old by a rogue vampire.  His parents cast him out of their home so the Fang family took him in and raised him as their own after seeking permission from my parents.  Any child that is turned is usually cast out by their parents if their lucky.  Other times the parents will kill them outright upon their turning.”  Shingetsu lowered his voice to a whisper and leaned close to Tobias’s ear.  “I am also a wizarding vampire.  My human parents were murdered and I was near death when dad found me when I was seventeen months old.  Dad saved my life by turning me.  I don’t have any memories of my human parents or my life before I was turned.  But please don’t tell anyone about this Tobias.”

Tobias nodded at his friend.  “I swear on my life and magic that I will not reveal anything that Shingetsu Yamazaki has told me so mote it be,” Tobias said taking out his wand as he made the oath. There was a flash of white light as the magical oath took effect.  Shingetsu just shook his head in wonder.  “You are certainly full of surprises Tobias.”

Gryffindor made their way down to the dungeons for Potions which was with the Slytherins.  Shingetsu saw how Tobias was shivering and pulled off his cloak.  “Put this on.  The cold doesn’t affect vampires.  Neither does the heat.”

“Why?” Tobias asked slipping the cloak on and fastening the silver clasp.

“It has to do with how we are made.  We can have children and we can turn others into vampires.  When we turn someone we drain them to near death before mixing our blood with the child’s and then give them our blood while taking with little blood they have left.  If a vampire turns another vampire the vampire who turned the human becomes their sire and the person who was turned becomes their fledgling, also known as ‘child’.  When a vampire is born or turned something in their biological makeup changes allowing them to feel neither heat nor cold.  I’m sorry.  I haven’t studied medicine so I can’t tell you anymore as I don’t know a lot about it myself.”

At the door to Potions they met the Slytherins already waiting for them.  Shingetsu raised an eyebrow when he saw the blond Slytherin Prince.   **Spoiled brat.  He’s not rich as Hana and I are though.**   Nightmare let out a growl at the Malfoy heir and Shingetsu tightened his hand on the leash.   _Easy Nightmare.  He hasn’t attacked me yet._

_He is the son of a death eater.  He needs to be destroyed before he turns into his father._

_Give him a chance Nightmare.  Besides we can’t just attack humans who are evil even if they do deserve it.  It will land me in Azkaban and you won’t live to the next moon rise._

“Oh look it’s the Boy-Who-Lived,” Draco scoffed.  “The poor little orphan who lost his parents.  Going to cry for your dead mother Longbottom?”

“Buzz off Malfoy,” Neville said.  “The Longbottoms are an ancient pureblood family unlike the Malfoys who only existed since the last century.”

Draco glared and Crabbe and Goyle clenched their fists.  “Can’t even go anywhere alone without your body guards can you Malfoy?” Neville continued.  “Afraid that you’ll be killed or lose a fight on your own?  At least my parents died for what they thought was right and protected me to the end.  Whereas your father probably bribed and murdered dozens of people to stay out of Azkaban where death eater scum like you belong!”

Malfoy lost his temper then and shouted a curse. “Stupefy!”

Neville shouted dodging the red spell that was aimed at him and shouted “Expulso!”  Malfoy screamed as he was blasted off his feet and into the opposite wall where he slid to the floor with blood trickling out of his head unconscious.  Neville calmly pocketed his wand and walked into class with the rest of the students staring after him.  “I think I’m going to be sick,” Shingetsu muttered closing his eyes.  He disappeared back up the corridor.  Tobias grabbed Nightmare’s fallen leash and bolted after his friend.

Snape came into the hallway then and hurried towards Malfoy.  “What happened?!”

“Malfoy was taunting Neville Professor,” Hermione said.  “And Neville used the Expulso curse on him before going into the classroom.”

Professor Snape levitated Draco.  “Class dismissed for the day.”  Snape levitated Draco’s unconscious body and poked his head in the classroom.  “Detention for a week Mr. Longbottom and twenty points from Gryffindor for attacking a fellow student!  Be in my classroom at 8PM tomorrow night.  Class is dismissed so get out of my classroom.”  With those parting words Snape made his way through the students and took Draco up to the Hospital Wing.

“I can’t believe Neville attacked Draco,” Hermione breathed.

“He deserved. Filthy death eater,” Ron snarled.

“That was no reason to attack him though,” Hermione said.

“You wouldn’t understand. You’re a muggle born.  Death Eaters are followers of the Dark Lord. My dad works for the Muggle Artifacts Office in the Ministry of Magic and was in the Order of the Phoenix.  He said that Lucius Malfoy bribed his way out of Azkaban.”

“I wonder why Prince Shingetsu ran off?” Hermione asked.

“He probably wanted to drain Malfoy dry,” Neville said coming out of the classroom.  “Vampires can’t be trusted.”

“What did vampires ever do to you Neville?”

“Nothing but they’re dark creatures. Everyone knows that.  They also followed Voldemort in last war.”

“Don’t say that name!” Ron shouted looking frightened.

“He’s dead Ron.  Quit acting like a baby.”

“You know I thought for the Boy-Who-Lived that you would be more grateful to be back among your own kind,” Ron said.

“Considering how it was wizards who killed my parents and grandmother, a wizard who tried to kill me, and wizards who put me on the doorstep of abusive muggles who put me in an orphanage at three years old and forgot about me for eleven years before deciding I needed to come back to the magical world why I should feel grateful? You all abandoned me when my parents died and treated me as a hero for something that has never been done before.  Dumbledore is strong. Why didn’t he stop Voldemort while he was in school here?”

“Voldemort went to school here?”

“Oh do the people of the light not know that Voldemort once went to school at Hogwarts? Shame they don’t obviously teach you anything useful at this school.” Neville shouldered his bag and made his way back up to Gryffindor Tower.

“Shingetsu! Wait up!” Tobias shouted as he and Nightmare ran to catch the young vampire.

Tobias caught up with Shingetsu as he ran into the bathroom.  Shingetsu collapsed against the wall and leaned his forehead against the cool stone.  “Sorry.  It was the blood.  I think I’ll go back to our dorm and go to sleep.”

“I don’t think you should go up there. Snape canceled class and gave Neville Longbottom a week’s worth of detention for attacking Draco Malfoy.  Neville went back up to the common room.”

Shingetsu nodded.  “Then I’ll just go sleep in the ROR.”

“ROR?”

“The ROR is the Room of Requirement or otherwise known as the ‘come and go room’.  Titus found it in his third year.  It’s up on the seventh floor.  Come on and I’ll show you.  The room can be anything you want it to be and it’s hidden.  Not many people know about it.”

They continued up to the seventh floor. In front of a tapestry of troll Shingetsu walked back and forth three times in front of the wall and suddenly a pair of doors appeared.  Shingetsu opened the door and beckoned Tobias in after him before shutting the door which vanished from view. Shingetsu waved his wand over the door and muttered some locking and warding charms.    “Welcome to the Room of Requirement Tobias.”

They looked and found themselves in a cave.  “These are the Caves of Sorrow. There are thousands of underground passages that go on for miles.  They are used to bring vampires from the villages into the capital where the royal family lives if we’re attacked.”

“Why are the called the Caves of Sorrow?”

“They are called the Caves of Sorrow because during the War of Darkness, the war that lasted twenty years, many vampires died trying to get through the caves into the capital.  Somehow a group of wizards found a couple villages as they were running through the caves and killed them all. Men, women, and children of two villages died before the army could get to their aid.  Only four villagers, two from each village managed to escape and report to us what had happened.”

“What happened to the wizards?”

“We found them and killed them.  If you don’t mind Tobias I’m going to sleep.”  Shingetsu collapsed into the bed in the middle of the cave and fell asleep.  Tobias looked at him before taking the other bed and lay there staring up at the cave ceiling thinking about everything he had learned this week from Shingetsu about his race.

That evening Tobias made his way back up to the Gryffindor common room on the seventh floor with Nightmare.  Shingetsu and Titus were off hunting away from Hogsmeade.  The two vampires had shadow traveled to a city in Tasmania. Stepping out from the shadows the vampire prince and his guard made their way down the street.  “One thing I like about being a vampire of the Shadow Phoenix Clan is that we can get to places fast by shadow traveling.  Of course it does us no good when there are no shadows to use,” Shingetsu said.

“I agree.  I was scared when I became a vampire but Brian and Sheila Fang were wonderful adoptive parents for me after I was turned.  They helped me see that being a vampire isn’t bad and that we aren’t monsters.  I’m grateful to your parents for allowing me into the nation.”

“Well you were a vampire and vampires who are turned need somewhere to go.  It is only among the vampire nation that they will find acceptance for being creatures.  The human world won’t accept us.  I find it sad really but I hope that eventually they will learn to accept us and our cousins.”

“I think the humans got a bit of a shock when they found out that the two darkest creatures are cousins,” Titus said before laughing.

“It’s true we used to be enemies but that was two thousand years ago after we both realized we needed to rely on each other in order to survive being hunted to extinction by the humans from both muggle and magical worlds. The War of Darkness was a terrifying time for us both.  Thanks to my great grandfather and the king of the werewolves who discovered the link between our species we were able to join each other and get past our differences.”

They looked for a prison where they could apparate or shadow flame in and feed on someone.  “I hate not being able to hunt at Hogwarts.  You would wonder why we can’t kill the children of death eaters,” Shingetsu grumbled. 

“I know.  Most of them will probably end up following the next Dark Lord but some of them might be able to change if they meet the right people.  Not all Slytherins are bad. I was friends with a few Slytherins and found them to stick with me even though I was a vampire. Many of the students think that Slytherins are all evil but they aren’t. While Hufflepuff for example is unlikely to produce many dark wizards all houses have had their fair share of bad wizards.  It’s stupid to stigmatize the whole house.”

Shingetsu nodded.  “Well I don’t have any hope for the Parkinsons, Malfoys, Goyles and Crabbes. They are either too stupid or too into power in order to think of anything else.”

After half an hour, they saw a prison surrounded by guard towers and barbed wire electric fences.  On the inside of the barbed wire fences they could see cement walls.  “Seems kind of odd to have a cement wall inside a barbed wire fence. Wouldn’t it make more sense to have the barbed wire on top of the cement wall or have the barbed wire fence in and the cement wall out?” Shingetsu asked.

“It would be better that way.  Perhaps Tasmanians do things differently than in other countries concerning their prisoners.”

Shingetsu and Titus shadow flamed inside the prison and causally walked around the prison.  The vampires grabbed a couple of cell mates after a quick read of their minds to determine what they were locked up for.  They began to feed on the two prisoners when a sound made Shingetsu snarl and grip the human tighter in his arms as his violet eyes turned red.  Titus immediately dropped his meal and stood protectively in front of his prince with his wand drawn.  They looked and saw four wands pointed at them. “What are you doing here?”


	6. Calista

“Who are you?”

Titus and Shingetsu looked up to see they were surrounded by four vampires, all of whom were obviously wizarding vampires for they had wands pointed at them.

“Do you not know your prince?” Shingetsu asked staring at the wizarding vampire who was obviously the leader. 

“Lumos,” a vampire with black hair muttered and held up his wand. “Your Highness!”

The vampires in the circle quickly lowered their wands and bowed before their prince.  “Forgive me sire,” the vampire who had questioned Shingetsu said shaking. 

“You’re forgiven,” Shingetsu said.  “Titus and I are here to hunt and feed. What better place to feed than in a mortal prison?”

The vampires laughed at their prince’s question which was true.  Nobody would care if a prisoner died now and then among the mortals especially if murders, kidnappers and child molesters were dying in mass numbers thanks to the population of vampires in each country. 

“What’s it like at the magical school sire?” A vampire with blond hair asked Shingetsu.

“Horrible.  We can’t feed on the students and except for one friend in my dorm the rest of the student body seems to hate me and Titus.”

“We are sorry to hear that young prince,” the vampire continued. 

“Who are you all?” Titus asked the four vampires.

“My name is Sebastian,” the wizard who had been speaking said. 

“Cinder,” the red haired vampire spoke.

“David,” the white haired vampire said. 

“Jet,” a black haired vampire said softly not daring to look up at Shingetsu or Titus.

Shingetsu nodded.  “What clan are you?”

“We are of the Leopard Clan,” David said.

Shingetsu nodded.  The vampires parted as Titus and Shingetsu made their way into the prison with the others following.  “Why are you following us?” Shingetsu asked hearing the others footsteps behind him.

“Guard duty,” Cinder said.  “Vampires and mortals alike guard the prisons. The mortals look the other way while we feed.”

“Will they bother Titus and I?” Shingetsu asked Cinder.

“No prince.  As long as they know who you are they won’t think of stopping you or Titus from feeding.”

Shingetsu nodded and the six vampires walked into the prison.  “Who is this?” A gray haired human said looking at the child with the four vampire guards.

“This is the vampire prince,” David said. “Prince Shingetsu Yamazaki, son of King Arashi and Queen Yuki.  Brother to Princess and Future Queen Hana.”

“The prince and his guard are here to feed Falkner so don’t bother them,” Cinder said.

Falkner nodded and continued watching the security cameras as the rest of the vampires went through into the main part of the prison.  Shingetsu calmly walked through the prison using his mind reading ability to look inside the prisoners’ minds to see what they were in for.  Finding someone that he figured wouldn’t be missed, Shingetsu apparated into the cell and pinned the pimp against the wall before sinking his fangs into the man’s throat.  There was a scream from the prisoner as he tried to get the vampire child off of him.  The other vampires watched the prisoner’s life force being drained away before Shingetsu dropped him and allowed the dead body to fall to the ground.  Titus was busy feeding on his own prisoner; a drug smuggler who had shot and killed a border agent while trying to smuggle drugs into the country.

When the two visiting vampires were finished with their meal Sebastian approached Shingetsu before bowing.  “Majesty the vampire governor in charge of the Tasmanian vampires would like to speak with a member of the royal house.”

“About what?”

“We would like to have an empire instead of being a commonwealth your highness.”

“I’m just a prince and unable to help you.  Besides why do you want my parents to create an empire?”

“The vampires who live near the royal city of Nightshade get the protection of the royal army along with being protected by the royal family while the commonwealths and other societies do not get that protection.  There are governors from all the commonwealths here who hope to speak with the king or queen about making this a possibility. The last ones arrived yesterday and are patiently waiting.”

Shingetsu sighed.  “Fine.  I’ll go get my parents and bring them here if it means that much to you.”

“Thank you sire,” the four members of Leopard clan said.

Shingetsu shook his head and slipped into the shadows before shadow transporting himself back to Nightshade. He walked up the road leading to the palace and through the gates before stopping at the stairs of his home.  He walked up the stairs and the two guards who guarded the palace doors bowed to their prince.  “Sire what are you doing back home?” A palace servant asked as Shingetsu walked through the doors before they swung shut behind him.

“I was hunting with Titus in Tasmania and I need to speak to father and mother.  Do you know where they are Star?”

“In the garden with Hana.  Should I fetch them?”

“Yes. Find someone to watch Hana.  We may need to return to Tasmania and then afterwards I will be returning to school with Titus before we are missed by the humans.”

“Of course sire,” Star said before scurrying in the direction of the garden.  Shingetsu made his way into the living room and sat down before the crackling fireplace.  Five minutes later his parents appeared.  His mother swept him into her arms and hugged him tightly while crying over seeing her son again.  When she broke the hug his father hugged him as well. 

“What brings you home Shingetsu?  Shouldn’t you be at school?” Arashi asked his son after the three vampires took their seats.

“I was hunting with Titus in Tasmania since we aren’t allowed to feed on the students.  We can’t even kill the death eater children.  I made a friend named Tobias Moon.  He’s in Gryffindor like me and seems to be the only person in the school who likes me and wants to be friends with me.  It’s depressing being away from you and Hana and the nation at a school that hates creatures.   One of the guards who work in a prison on Tasmania said that the governors of all the commonwealths are there and want to speak with you about creating an empire.  It’s why I shadow traveled back here.”

“An empire?” Yuki asked looking from her son to her husband in disbelief.  “Why ever do the commonwealths want an empire?  The commonwealths have worked well so far for the past two thousand years.”

“They said that they want the protection of what an empire entails and the protection of the royal army. I said I would see about bringing you both there so the meeting can begin.”

Arashi looked into the fire and then sighed.  “Fine we’ll shadow travel there. Star!”

“Yes your majesty?” Star asked coming into the room.

“Please watch Hana for us.  We’re going to Tasmania to meet with the commonwealth governors and will return later.”

“Yes sire,” Star said bowing.  The prince and his parents stepped into the shadows of the living room and shadow traveled back to Tasmania.  Waiting for them were David, Cinder, Jet and Sebastian.  They had arrived back at the prison after traveling through the shadows to get there.  Shadow travel was tiring if done long distances and without blood or food.  It could also take a toll on newly turned vampires and children of the Shadow Phoenix clan who had never shadow traveled before until they got used to that method of transportation.  The four vampire guards bowed to their king, queen and prince.

“King Arashi, Queen Yuki, Prince Shingetsu please follow us to the governor’s mansion,” David said.  The vampires made their way out of the prison and through the various roads until they came to a gated driveway with trees on either side which blocked out the sky.  David opened the gate and they stepped through before walking down the long paved driveway until they arrived at a three story mansion.  David knocked on the door and they were given admittance. 

David led the way to the meeting room and there were the governors of the forty-two commonwealths.  Tasmania, Fiji, Alcatraz, Maldives, Singapore, Canary Islands, Cyprus, Easter Island, Tokelau, Christmas Island, Bahamas, Jamaica, Atlantis, Philippines, Bermuda, Saint Lucia, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Nauru, Indonesia, Cuba, Australia, Guam, Hong Kong, Prince Edward Island, Thailand, Haiti, Iceland, Kantia, Tuanaki, Himalayas, Frisland, Antilla,  Saint Brendan’s Isle, Venice, Emerald Island, Nimrod Islands, Sannikov Land, Los Jardines, Thula, Mu, and Machu Picchu.   

“Greetings governors of the commonwealths.  My son informs me that you are interested in being part of an empire?” Arashi asked as he sat down with his wife and son on either side of him at the long table. 

The governor of Mu, a vampiress named Lucy, stood up and spoke.  “Yes your majesty.  I speak for all forty-two commonwealths when we say that we would like to be an empire.  The vampires who live near Nightshade in Scotland are well taken care of and don’t have to fear attack from enemies as they can easily go into the capital and stay there but the commonwealths do not have that protection.  It is our hope that you will grant us this request and allow an empire to form.  You will gain loyal troops as part of the imperial army and navy and we will feel a lot safer if we were in some way connected to the royal house.”

“Is this really what you all want?” Arashi asked looking at each of the forty-two governors seated around the table.  At everyone’s nods he sighed and stood up.  “The people speak for the gods and I will listen to them.  If this is what the people want then an empire we shall be.  From this day forth we shall be Calista.”

“All hail King Arashi!  All hail Queen Yuki!  Long live the king and queen! Long live the prince and princess of Calista! Gods save Calista!” Arashi sat down, looked at his wife and son and shook his head with a smile on his face. 


	7. Celebration

Shingetsu and Titus shadow flamed back to Hogwarts after Shingetsu had told his parents how his first week of school went.  King Arashi and Queen Yuki went back to Nightshade and sent out letters to all the commonwealths that they were now part of the empire Calista.  Both vampires were refreshed and feeling much better after their hunting trip in Tasmania.  There would be celebrations throughout the empire and Shingetsu knew that his parents would be inviting the Governors and their families to Nightshade for a celebration to commemorate this wonderful occasion. 

Tobias was waiting up for Shingetsu when he shadow traveled through Hogwarts and up to the common room in Gryffindor Tower.  He was happy to know that his friend didn’t appear sick like he had the past week and surmised that Professor Fang was feeling the same way.  “Tobias what are you doing up at this late hour?”

“It’s five in the morning sire,” Tobias said.  “I wanted to make sure you got back alright.”

“Tobias you don’t need to call me sire.  You’re not one of my subjects.  How is Nightmare?”

“Sleeping on your bed.”

“It was nice of you to wait up for me. Have you gotten any sleep?”

“Only an hour. I stayed up working on homework.”

Shingetsu shook his head.  “Titus and I are fine. We came back late because I had to go get my parents for a meeting with all forty-two commonwealths. They wanted an empire so my parents made our nation an empire.  We are now Calista.  There’s going to be celebrations all over the empire now and my parents will be inviting all the governors and their families to Nightshade for a celebration in the capital.”

“Will you be skipping classes today?”

“No. My parents would be furious with me if my grades slipped and I cut class.”

Shingetsu let out a yawn then and went back to his dorm with Tobias following behind him.  They went up to their dorm and crawled into their beds before falling asleep.  Nightmare purred as Shingetsu scratched his familiar behind the ears.   _Shingetsu how are you?_

_I am fine Nightmare.  Thank you for asking. The hunting Titus and I did has refreshed us and taken away some of the sickness we have been feeling all week with only animal blood and blood lollipops to get nutrition from.  I don’t know how I will survive seven years of school here._

_I can always go into the Forbidden Forest or into Hogsmeade and bring back prey for you Shingetsu._

_NO!  The Forbidden Forest is dangerous and has no prey for me or Titus.  If you attack the villagers in Hogsmeade they may guess that you belong to me and then I’ll be in trouble with the Ministry. Who knows what they might do to my parents and sister? To our empire?_

_Empire dark phoenix?_

_Yes my dear, empire is correct.  When we were in Tasmania all forty-six commonwealth governors were there.  I had to go back to Nightshade to get my parents. The commonwealths wanted an empire so we are now Calista.  It has made  the vampires happy and no doubt they will be receiving owls this time tomorrow to tell them of the rise of Calista and celebrations will begin around the empire as the subjects celebrate._

_It is a shame that you and Titus cannot partake in these celebrations at home._

_It is but sadly there is nothing I can do about it. It was a risk just leaving Hogwarts in order to hunt and attend that meeting with the governors of the commonwealths._

Shingetsu woke up at 7:30 AM and with Tobias and Nightmare got ready for classes, grabbed their book bags and went down to the Great Hall for breakfast.  Titus was up at the staff table next to in his seat between Professors Snape and McGonagall.  Shingetsu and Tobias had just sat down at the Gryffindor table when the doors to the Great Hall opened and fifty people strode into the Great Hall.  Shingetsu looked up and stood up.  Nightmare came out from under the table and stood in front of his bonded.  Up at the staff table Titus stood up as well and began walking towards Shingetsu while withdrawing his sword in one hand and his wand in the other.   The column of people halted and as one bowed before Shingetsu.

“What is the meaning of this?!” Professor Dumbledore shouted into the silence of the Great Hall as he stood up. 

The vampires on the ground ignored the headmaster and the leader spoke.  “Prince Shingetsu, King Arashi and Queen Yuki have sent us here so you, Titus and any of your friends can celebrate the birth of the empire.  Your parents have granted you and any of your friends leave to skip classes today.”

Shingetsu smiled then.  “Tobias do you want to skip classes all day and attend this celebration with Titus and I?”

Nightmare turned his eyes on his bonded and Shingetsu laughed.  “Excuse me.  I forgot to include Nightmare as well.”

Tobias laughed and nodded.  “I’d be happy to attend the celebration with you and I’m glad your parents thought to include me in the festivities.”

“Shingetsu Yamazaki and Tobias Moon are forbidden from skipping classes!” Professor Dumbledore ordered.  “Shingetsu and Tobias you are hereby ordered to sit back down at your house table.”

When Shingetsu made no move to follow the headmaster’s orders he huffed and left the dais that the staff table was raised upon before walking over to Shingetsu and Tobias. Fifty vampires stood at attention and formed a circle around of their prince and his human friend with their wands drawn and pointed at the headmaster.  “You have no authority over the King and Queen and thereby extension has no authority over the prince and princess of Calista. This is a celebration that the King and Queen wanted their son and any of his friends to attend as well as the prince’s guard and they will be attending the celebrations today.  A human is not going to stop us from carrying out their majesties orders.”

“General Shade tell your men to lower their wands,” Shingetsu ordered.  “Headmaster while you may have authority over this school and its students you have no authority over a member of the ruling vampire family.  I expect no interference to come towards Titus, Tobias or myself from any mortal in this school.  This is a joyous occasion for the empire and my duty to my parents and the empire supersedes any duties I have as a student.  Rest assured that Tobias and I will make up any homework missed from today.”

The vampires and Tobias turned and walked out of the hall.  Titus stopped and said “All of my classes for today are canceled,” before following his prince and fellows out of Hogwarts.  The group walked with purpose down the steps into the grounds surrounding Hogwarts but kept hold of their wands just in case any of the mortals decided to try hexing their prince or his friend.  Between the Black Lake and the edge of the Forbidden Forest a large circus tent was set up with a long table in the center of the tent that would hold all fifty vampires plus the prince, his guard and any friends he made.

Behind the group were the sounds of pounding feet.  The guards in the rear spun around and leveled their wands at the intruders.   Two students stood there looking at them.  Shingetsu and Tobias came forward.  Before them were a first year Hufflepuff boy and a first year Gryffindor girl.

“Claudius and Violet what brings you both to this celebration?” Shingetsu asked as he looked at the two students before him.

“Shingetsu we want to be your friends,” Violet said without looking at the vampire prince.

“Why haven’t you said anything before now?  I was beginning to think Tobias was going to be my only friend for seven years.”

“We weren’t sure how to approach a creature let alone a vampire prince,” Claudius said.

“We also know our families wouldn’t accept us being friends with creatures,” Violet continued.  “I’m a first generation witch. They already reject me for being magical.”

“I’m a half-blood,” Claudius said.  “My parents would kill me for being friends with a ‘monster’ and disown me.”

Shingetsu looked at the two human children.  “I’ll have to speak to my parents but if you both are in danger I believe I can offer you sanctuary within Calista during the summer and holidays. If you want to be my friends I’ll be happy.  I could use friends my age.”

“What’s this I hear about your friends being disowned from their families Phoenix?”

Shingetsu turned and saw his mother standing in the middle of the circle.  He looked and saw that the fifty vampires were all on the ground before Queen Yuki.  “Mother!”  Shingetsu shouted running towards her open arms and hugging her.  “What are you doing here?  Where’s father?”

“Your father is at home tending to the celebrations across the empire.  We thought you should have one of us with you at Hogwarts to celebrate the birth of Calista so we decided to surprise you. Your father is sorry that he wasn’t able to make it but look who else is here.”

Queen Yuki stepped aside to reveal Hana.  “Hana!” Shingetsu shouted grabbing his sister and swinging her around in the air as she giggled. 

“Brother!”

Shingetsu planted a kiss on his sister’s hair and turned back to his mother and friends. “Mother these are Tobias, Violet, and Claudius.  Tobias is the friend I wrote you about.  Violet is in Gryffindor like Tobias and I and Claudius is a Hufflepuff.  We have Herbology together with Professor Sprout.”

 “It is a pleasure to meet you your highness,” Tobias said bowing.   Violet and Claudius bowed as well after a few seconds of staring at the vampire queen and mother of their friend.

“Such a kind boy,” Queen Yuki said smiling at Tobias.  “It is a pleasure to meet my son’s friend.  I am happy Tobias that you gave my son a chance to be your friend.  He doesn’t have any human friends at home.  I hope you will remain loyal to him and be his friend for as long as you live.”

“I have no intention of forsaking Prince Shingetsu your highness,” Tobias said with honesty.

Queen Yuki turned to Violet and Claudius.  “It is sad to hear that your parents would disown you if you became friends with my son.  Sadly this is not unheard of in the magical world.  Are you prepared for being disowned by your families if you become friends with my son?  I warn you that doing so should not be taken lightly. People will not react kindly to you three being friends with a dark creature.  They will shun you and you may find it hard to live in your world.”

The two lions and badger nodded.  “As for giving you sanctuary I can offer it but first I need to tell if you are going to betray or harm my son in any way.”

“How will you do that?” Claudius asked with a shudder.

“Stare into my eyes and open your mind to me.  I need to examine your mind and your soul in order to see if you truly want to be my son’s friend or if you are working for the Ministry.”

“Why would we be working for the Ministry?” Violet asked.

“The Ministry has been known to use children who become friends with dark creatures in order to cause harm or wage war against dark creatures in the past child. Though it is now illegal I cannot take the risk of my son being in danger from people who would seek to harm him or the empire.  Yes even children are sadly suspect.”

One by one Claudius, Violet and Tobias stared at Queen Yuki and she examined their souls and minds.  “I can sense no evil in your hearts but you Violet are full of sadness and hurt.  I could feel your emotions easily.  You will want to learn to guard your minds by practicing occulumency.”

“What’s occlumency your highness?” Violet asked.

“Occulumency my dear child is the art of protecting your mind against external penetration from Legilimency.  Legilimency is the art of magically navigating through the many layers of a person’s mind and correctly interpreting one’s findings.”

“Will it hurt?”

“It may hurt at first.  A skilled Legilimens will be able to tell if a person is lying to them.  You will need to learn how to defend your mind at all times; both awake and while asleep.  You will also need to learn how to organize your thoughts and create a barrier against an intruder as well as plant false but believable memories so that a Legilimens won’t be able to tell that you’re lying.  It takes practice and dedication to learn the art of Occulumency.”

“Queen Yuki everything is set up for the celebration,” a vampire with black hair said.

“Thank you William.  Well young ones shall we go enjoy ourselves?”

At the nods of the five children Yuki smiled and led them to the table.  Yuki sat at the head with her children on one side and the friends on the other. The fifty other vampires took their places and the human servants who had come with the queen and princess to Hogwarts served the food and drinks.  “Welcome to our human guests to this joyous occasion,” Yukie began.  “Yesterday my husband, King Arashi, and I went to Tasmania to meet with the governors of the forty-six commonwealths to discuss becoming an empire.  The people speak for the gods and so we became an empire for the first time in our history.  We are now Calista. By becoming an empire the commonwealths now have the protection that the villages and cities near Nightshade have.  They will be able to join the Imperial Army and have the protection that an empire offers.  You all have been chosen by myself and my husband to accompany my daughter and I to Hogwarts to share in this joyous occasion with my son, his guard Titus Fang and my son’s human friends.  I just want to take this time to say that I am grateful that you have served our empire well.”

After a hearty breakfast the servants cleared the table of the dishes and tended to their respective duties while the vampires left the tent and went into the Forbidden Forest.  They walked in single file with the humans and royal family in the middle of the group deep into the forest until they came to a clearing that had streamers slung through the branches of trees across the entrance to the clearing.  Then the party really began.


	8. Plot of Destruction

Violet and Claudius were given sanctuary after their parents had disowned them for being friends with Shingetsu Yamazaki.  They now had scholarships to go to Hogwarts since with the disowning their tuition was no longer being paid for.  The four friends were doing well in their school and two months had passed since the party celebrating the birth of Calista.  The rest of Shingetsu and Tobias’s dorm mates were ignoring Shingetsu but it didn’t bother him as much anymore as it had when he had first started at the magical school since he had gained a couple new friends. 

Titus and Shingetsu had gotten used to having to hunt outside of Hogwarts.  It allowed them both to see how the vampires of Calista were faring.  The vampire nation may have been at peace but things were not going well for them at the British Ministry of Magic once Cornelius Fudge learned there was a vampire attending Hogwarts.

A few Slytherins had written to their parents about the vampire prince attending Hogwarts and how they were uncomfortable with a dark creature being in the school.  Cornelius Fudge had received letters from distressed parents about the fact that Dumbledore had allowed a vampire into the school.  He didn’t care that the enrolled student was the prince of all vampires. “Hogwarts is not for dark creatures!” Fudge shouted to a room full of people later that day in Dumbledore’s office.  “What do you mean by allowing vampires to come to this school?”

“I assure you Minister that precautions have been taken so the vampire prince and his guard, who is also our Dark Creatures professor, are not attacking students.  They are given animal blood three times a day and no students have reported being bitten by either of the two vampires.”

“How many other dark creatures have you let into Hogwarts headmaster?”

“Well Remus Lupin is a werewolf as you know.  He was in Hogwarts when he was a student and he wasn’t a danger to anyone either.”

“You let a werewolf into Hogwarts as a student when he could have been a danger to the other students?!  The law states that these creatures have to be registered for a reason Albus.  There’s no need for any creature to seek an education.  Hagrid has already been taken care of since he’s half-giant but he shouldn’t have been allowed in school either. For some reason my predecessor chose to allow a half-giant into the school.”

“I am the headmaster of this school and can do whatever I want.  So far the vampire prince and his guard haven’t posed a threat to the school.  If they do then I will of course expel the child and turn them both over to the Ministry of Magic.”

“I have been bombarded with letters with parents worrying about vampires being in Hogwarts.  I have no choice but to act.  Shingetsu Yamazaki is hereby expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Titus Fang is hereby under arrest for working with human children.”

“You have no authority in my school as long as I’m headmaster Cornelius.”

“Who was the one who invited a vampire into this school anyway?  Was that your doing Dumbledore?”

“Yes it was.  Just because the child is a vampire is no reason why he shouldn’t attend school.  Other countries aren’t as biased as the British wizarding world is concerning creatures getting an education.”

“And that is where the mistake lies.  If creatures are allowed to get an education then they will turn against us.”

“Do you really think that if we don’t allow them to have an education that things will be normal?  Many of the creatures out there already hate us because of the restrictions put upon them by the Ministry and British wizarding society.  Perhaps if we allow them to seek an education and give them equal rights to wizards and witches then relations between everyone won’t be so strained.”

“Come off it Albus.  You know as well as I do that creatures-no matter if they are light or dark-pose a threat to wizarding kind.  How would you feel if you had a child and that child married or fell in love with a creature?”

“I would be disappointed of course.”

“Then there’s your answer.  Eject the creatures from Hogwarts or I will see to it that you lose your position as headmaster of this school as well get you expelled from the Wizengamont.”

“What will you do Albus?” Minerva McGonagall asked as they watched the Minister of Magic sweep out of the headmaster’s office. “He can’t really think that he can sack you from the Wizengamont.”

“He doesn’t have the authority to do either,” Dumbledore said smugly.  “Hogwarts can’t survive without me leading it. The people can’t survive without me leading it.”

Minerva didn’t say anything to that and neither did Severus or Flitwick.  “Do you really believe what you just said headmaster?” Snape asked.

“Yes why did you allow a vampire to come to Hogwarts and for a vampire to be employed here?  They’re too dangerous to have around Hogwarts.”

“Minerva aren’t you being biased towards the young vampire prince?  I find him to be a wonderful student and his guard, Professor Fang, to be a wonderful colleague.  You had no objections to Remus Lupin coming to Hogwarts even though he was a werewolf.”  As a half goblin Flitwick knew of the prejudice creatures faced. 

Snape was silent throughout this.  “I also find that Professor Fang is a wonderful colleague and the young prince is quite adept in potions unlike some of the other dunderheads I have taught.”

“Remus Lupin was different.  He was all alone and had actually registered with the Ministry of Magic as per the laws enacted on Werewolves.  How do we know that this vampire doesn’t mean to kill us all?”

“I’m ashamed of you Minerva,” Filius said looking at his colleague with disdain.  “The only differences between Remus Lupin and Shingetsu Yamazaki is that one was bitten and the other was born a vampire.  Other than there is no difference.”

“I confess that I am also at a loss as to why you would be prejudiced against a creature that was sorted into your house Minerva,” Snape said.  “I feel sorry for the poor boy.  Not only is he away from his parents and kind with only a guard for company but his dorm mates and the entire school shuns him except for three human friends he has made.”

Snape and Flitwick turned and left the office in disgust.  McGonagall was speechless at Flitwick’s words.  She turned to Dumbledore and collapsed into a chair.  “Am I really so heartless Albus?”

“No my dear you aren’t,” Dumbledore said as he looked at his lover and fellow colleague.  “It’s only natural to be afraid of creatures that could harm us and I don’t blame you for hating the vampire prince.”

Fudge was deeply concerned that creatures had been allowed to go to Hogwarts. “The Ministry must act or I’ll look like an idiot and lose the next election.”

“Sir if we do anything to harm the prince of the vampires then the king and queen will lead their forces to attack the Ministry.  What is the harm in allowing him to attend Hogwarts or any other magical school?”

“He can attend any other magical school accept Hogwarts!  The vampires should have been eradicated millennia ago instead of allowed to flourish!  They’re a danger to us all!”

“He’s gone off the bend that one,” one of the people working in the Ministry said.

“Arrest the vampire and sentence him to Azkaban.  Kill the guard as well as any other creatures found at Hogwarts.”

“And just how are we going to do that?”

“Test every student at the school for creature blood!”

“Minister that is not only stupid but impossible unless a law is passed. It’s an invasion of privacy and you’ll piss off a lot of parents if you do this!  Not to mention we’ll have the vampires’ attacks to deal with if you harm the prince,” another person tried to reason with the Minister of Magic.

Fudge ignored the rationality of such a plot and turned on his subordinates.  “Anyone found in cahoots with any creature is to be arrested and sentenced to Azkaban!  I expect a law to be drawn up in the next hour.”

The few Ministry workers who were creatures themselves or friends with creatures were disturbed at the Minister’s words. However creatures were not equal beings in the British wizarding society and they knew the only thing they could do was to warn their friends and go into hiding or else they’d end up in Azkaban.  What the Minister was planning on doing was suicide. 


	9. Azkaban

Shingetsu was with Titus, Nightmare and his three friends in the Dark Creatures classroom when the door burst open and the group saw ten Aurors enter the classroom with their wands drawn.  “Shingetsu Yamazaki and Titus Fang, by order of the Minister of Magic you are both hereby under arrest.  Shingetsu Yamazaki you are hereby expelled from Hogwarts and Titus Fang you are fired from your position of the Dark Creatures class,” Kingsley Shackelbolt stated.  “Children step away from the vampires and come over here where you’ll be safe.”

Nightmare snarled and stepped in front of his bonded.  Tobias, Claudius and Violet got up and stood in front of their friend as well.  “Professor Fang happens to be a great teacher,” Violet said.  “And Shingetsu is a great friend.  Neither of them have done anything to warrant being sentenced to Azkaban for.”  Claudius and Tobias nodded in agreement to Violet’s words.

“It’s alright guys,” Shingetsu said looking at his friends sadly. “There’s nothing you can do to stop some wizards from sentencing us to Azkaban.”

“My prince is right,” Titus said looking at his prince’s friends.  “You best leave before you get in trouble.  But the children are right Shackelbolt.  Shingetsu and I have never harmed a student or staff member in this school.  Nor has my prince’s familiar harmed anyone.”

“Turn over your wands,” Shackelbolt said.  “You won’t need them anymore.”

Shingetsu summoned his wand where it was hidden in his holster and tossed it over to the Aurors. A female Auror caught it and looked to Titus.  Titus ignored the Aurors and looked to his prince with a question on his face.   ** _Give them your wand Titus.  Though I have a feeling the Minister wants to kill you so get away if you can._**

**_I won’t leave you sire._ **

**_You will do as you’re told Titus Fang!_ **

**_But sire I am ordered by your parents to protect you even if it costs me my life._ **

**_TITUS  ARCHIBOLD FANG I ORDER YOU TO OBEY ME!_** The humans drew back as Shingetsu’s magic crackled around him and his long hair whipped in the wind that was swirling around him.  A snarl ripped from his throat as he stared at his professor, guard and friend.  Tobias placed a hand on Shingetsu’s arm in an attempt to calm the vampire prince down before he did something he would regret. 

“Your highness do not harm your friend and don’t give the Aurors reason to harm you,” Tobias said.  “We’ll find a way to alert your parents to what is going on.”

Titus was forced onto his knees before his prince from the force of Shingetsu’s magic.  Nightmare felt Shingetsu’s fear and anger through their bond and laid his head against Shingetsu’s left side in an attempt to settle his master down.  Slowly Shingetsu got control of his magic and it settled back into his body.  Titus got up and snapped his wand.  There was no way he’d give his wand over to the Aurors.

“Stupefy!” Ten red beams of light hit Shingetsu and Titus blasting them into the wall as a blue shield sprang up around the three human children.  The two vampires hit the wall hard and crumpled to the ground having been knocked unconscious.  Nightmare let loose a roar and launched at the Aurors.  “Crucio!” The female Auror who had caught Shingetsu’s wand shouted stopping the panther in midair and sending it to the floor where it screamed in pain as its body contorted under the effects of the torture curse. 

“Stop it!” Violet shouted as she gazed at the panther twisting about on the floor.  “Leave him alone!”

The three friends ran towards their friend’s fallen panther.  The Aurors stood in shock at the shield that moved with the three humans which expanded to include Nightmare.  “What kind of magic is this?” Brian Sage asked staring from the vampires to the humans and the panther.  “I’ve never heard of a shield being created when someone is unconscious, let alone a moving shield.”

“Never mind what magic it is!  Arrest them both!” Shackelbolt shouted.  “And muzzle that panther.”

Two Aurors went to the vampires and placed magic suppressing cuffs on them.  The rest went over to the panther that had stopped convulsing when the shield had encased it and tried to get hold of the three children.  “No doubt they’ve been brainwashed by the vampires.  They’ll have to be taken to St. Mungo’s for examination.”

“The Minister’s orders were to kill the vampire ‘professor’”, Segway said sneering as he looked at the two creatures before him.  “Albus Dumbledore is a fool for allowing creatures to work or attend school. Do we have orders to arrest the half-giant?”

“No but with the Minister’s new law I’m sure we’ll be able to arrest him soon enough,” Shackelbolt said.

The second female Auror, Rosemary Sage, raised her wand and pointed it at Professor Fang.  “Ava-”

She didn’t get a chance to finish as magic swirled around the room and in a flash of black flames the human children, panther and professor had been swept away.  Shingetsu opened his eyes and glared at the humans in front of him.  “As if I would allow you to harm my familiar or friends,” Shingetsu said as his magic helped him to stand against the wall.  His eyes had changed to pure black and his pupils had changed to the slits of a cat.  His magic continued to swirl around the room in his rage at being attacked and the threat to his friends and familiar being harmed by witches and wizards. 

**Humans like these are exactly why vampires only keep muggles as slaves.  I just hope my friends are alright and got safely to Nightshade.**

Shingetsu’s magic flung half of the Aurors into the opposite wall.  “CRUCIO!” Five voices shouted and Shingetsu screamed in pain as his body contorted.  The spell lifted him into the air and slammed him into the floor as his magic spiraled around him which destroyed the classroom before he blacked out.   A shield was flung up over the ten Aurors so they wouldn’t get hurt by flying debris. 

“How is it possible that the vampire was able to do magic when he has magic suppressing cuffs on him?” Segway asked, his voice a mixture of horror and awe.

“Maybe it has something to do with him being a vampire.  Or maybe he’s unusual even among vampires,” Shackelbolt said.  “Sage bring the others around and let’s get back to the Ministry.  We’ll have to tell Fudge about this.”

“Ennervate,” Sage said pointing her wand at the five unconscious Aurors.  Once they had come around the team made their way to the Headmaster’s office.  Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Snape looked up as the ten Aurors and one bound and magically exhausted vampire prince made their way into the office.

“Where are Professor Fang and Mr. Yamazaki’s familiar?”  Minerva asked.

“Apparently the vampire used his magic to send them away before we could capture the adult vampire and take the children to St. Mungo’s to see what has been done to them.  The strange thing this was done when both vampires were unconscious.”

“Can you figure out where they were sent?”

“No.  For some reason the vampire’s magic is untraceable.”

“Impossible,” Severus said.  “All child magic is traceable.  Even among creatures it’s traceable!”

“Well not among this creature,” Sage said with disgust.  “We have to get to the Ministry.  The vampire’s going to Azkaban where it belongs.  A law has been passed stating all children in Hogwarts to be tested and if they are creatures they are expelled from Hogwarts and not allowed to receive an education. You should also expect Ministry officials to come for the game keeper and sentence him to Azkaban as well as any other creatures you have employed in your school.”

“You don’t have any authority to pass a law without approval of the Wizengamont Shackelbolt,” Dumbledore said. 

“You have been suspended indefinitely headmaster for allowing creatures to come to Hogwarts and employing creatures in your school. I know of at least two half creatures that will be arrested sometime later tonight.  Professor Flitwick and Rubeus Hagrid.  All students will have to submit to a blood test which will take place over the following week at Hogwarts.  No student is exempt from this test.  Good day Headmaster, Professors.”  Throwing some floo powder into the fireplace the ten Aurors and their prisoner made their way to the Ministry of Magic.

“What can we do headmaster?”  Severus asked.  “Can they really suspend you from the Wizengamont and start testing students for creature blood?”

“The Minister sadly overrules the Wizengamont Severus.  My hands are sadly tied.”

“Why did you allow the vampire prince to come to Hogwarts headmaster?” Severus asked.  “And what can we do about Filius and Hagrid from being taken to Azkaban?”

“I thought that he deserved an education like Mr. Lupin was given when he was a boy.  The same thing with Rubeus and Filius also receiving educational instruction at Hogwarts when they were children.  But I fear they may start a war with the vampires and other creatures once this law gets out.  Relations are already strained enough between the humans and the magical creatures of the world without this prejudice.”

Severus frowned.  Only Filius knew that his son was a vampire In fact very few people knew he had a son or that his son had been bitten by a vampire when he was four years old.  He would have to leave his home on Spinner’s End and go to Calista where he knew he could seek safety there.  He knew that creatures all over would be fleeing Hogwarts.  Making a decision that he knew would cost him his life if he was found out by the Ministry he made his way to the Charms Professor’s office and knocked on the door.

“Enter,” came the squeaky voice of Flitwick.  “Ah Severus.  Come in.  Is there anything you need?”

“Filius you need to flee and seek the help of your people,” Severus said.  “I’m going to warn Hagrid to flee as well and then I’m getting Zen and going to Calista.”

“Severus what’s wrong?”

“The Minister has passed a law saying that all students are to be tested for being creatures and if so they are going to be expelled, their wands snapped and very likely sent to Azkaban.  Aurors are supposed to come for you and Hagrid later tonight to take you both to Azkaban.”

“Can’t Albus do anything to help us?”

“No. He’s been suspended indefinitely from the Wizengamont and says his hands are tied.” 

“What about Professor Fang and your prince?”

“The prince has been taken captive but it appears his magic is something that the magical community has never heard of.  Dumbledore said he wanted Prince Shingetsu to have an education but I can’t help thinking if it’s something more than that.  He never seemed-” Severus was unable to finish his sentence.

Filius nodded in understanding.  “I agree Severus that it seems that Albus secretly doesn’t trust creatures.  You know he offered to teach the Marauders how to become Animagi if they would befriend Mr. Lupin?”

“Really?  I didn’t know that.  So they didn’t become his friends willingly?”

“No they didn’t.  Minerva and I were there when Dumbledore talked to Mr. Potter, Mr. Black, and Mr. Pettigrew in his office after Mr. Lupin was enrolled at Hogwarts.  The only ones he trusted were myself, Poppy and Pomona.  Get Zen and get out of here Severus.  I’ll stop by Hagrid’s and warn him before leaving myself.  The Ministry has no bearing on goblin territory.  Is it also the same for Calista?”

“Yes it’s the same thing.  Good luck my friend.”

Severus made his way down to his private quarters where he collected Zen and made his way to the edge of the wards while Filius made his way to Hagrid’s to inform him of what Severus had told him.  All four creatures quickly left Hogwarts in order to escape Azkaban.  Severus and Zen made their way to Calista, Filius to Gringotts, and Hagrid made his way north to where the giants lived. 

At the Ministry Shingetsu was automatically sentenced to Azkaban by the Minister.  Never mind that Shingetsu would be the youngest person in the prison.  Never mind that a war could very well start from torturing the prince of the vampires and the prejudiced law which could tear the magical world apart.  No according to Fudge and the pureblood idiots this was the best thing.  Shingetsu’s wand was snapped before he was sent to Azkaban in front of him in an effort to demoralize the young prince. Shingetsu’s eyes just blazed with anger and rage as he was led away by Aurors to the appartion point where a boat would take him to the island prison.


	10. Prince's Fate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Updating the story with a chapter I missed which goes between Azkaban and War Council.

"Shingetsu Yamazaki you are hereby sentenced to life in Azkaban without the possiblity of parol as the Muggles say," Fudge said.

Prince Shingetsu, heir to the throne of Calista, son of King Arashi and Queen Yuki, brother and future husband to his sister, Princess Hana Yamazaki; was sitting in a chair with his feet shackled together as chains bound him tightly to the chair in Courtroom Ten in the Ministry of Magic.   Before him was Fudge, Madam Bones, Umbridge, and others he didn't know all sitting before him as Fudge carried out the sentence.  On either side of him were two Aurors who were waiting to 'escort'  him to Azkaban.

"By sentencing me to Azkaban, you are going to start a war with my people.  My parents and people will not take kindly to you throwing me in prison for life.  By creating this stupid law against creatures, you are showing them that humans are nothing more than prejudiced bastards who deserve to be wiped out of existence and are breaking countless treaties  that your ancestors set in place with the creatures of the world.  I wouldn't be surprised if the dementors no longer decide to obey you either.  I hope you're happy Fudge.  You have just sentenced the wizarding world to death."

"There is no way a bunch of creatures can defeat wizards and witches.  We are their betters and it is time they learn their place."

"Then you are fools. Have fun dying," Shingetsu said before he was yanked up by his arms once the chains had released him and punched in the stomach which made the young prince cry out and collapse to his knees as the Aurors on either side of him began beating the unfortunate prince.  Prince Shingetsu Yamazaki kept his lips pressed together as the beating continued.  He would not give these barbarians an ounce of satisfaction at hearing him scream or cry.

"Take the vampire away," Fudge said in dismissal.   The two Aurors brutally yanked the young prince up and there was the audible sound of a _crack_ as the prince's right arm broke.  The people in the courtroom watched in silence as the young prince was hauled away to his life imprisonment in Azkaban.   They didn't know that Shingetsu had spiritied his friends and familiar to Nightshade and they were now in the palace with the King and Queen before them.

Tobias, Claudia, Violet, Titus, and Nightmare had indeed been spirited away to Nightshade which was the capital of Calista as well as the home of the royal family.  The three human children found themselves surrounded by guards and Shingetsu's mother standing with a man who must be her husband and therefore king of the vampires.   Titus remained unconscious.

"Where is Shingetsu?  What happened?" King Arashi asked as the three human children lying on the entry floor in front of them.

"Your highness, Prince Shingetsu is in trouble.   The Aurors captured him and plan on sentencing him to Akzaban," Tobias said.

Queen Yuki gasped and put a hand to her mouth.  King Arashi frowned at the young child's words.  Come with us.  Guards return to your post.  Someone take TItus to his room and alert me when he awakes and bring a healer for these children."

"Yes your majesty," the guards said, bowing before following their orders.  Two guards carefully lifted Titus between them and took him to his room.  Titus was one of a handful of vampires who lived in the palace.   The three friends and Nightmare followed the king and queen through the hallway into the living room where a fire was crackling in the hearth despite it being hot outside.

"Now what exactly happened at Hogwarts that has our son being sent to Azkaban?" Arashi asked.

Violet was the one to speak.  "We were in Professor Fang's class as we sometimes hang out there to learn more about the vampire empire.  As we were talking, ten Aurors burst into the classroom and demanded they turn over their wands.  They informed Professor Fang that he was fired from his position as the Dark Creatures professor and that Shingetsu was expelled.  He also said they were both under arrest by order of the Ministry.  Shingetsu turned over his wand but Titus snapped his rather than handing it over.  Then the Aurors sent Professor Fang and Shingetsu into a wall which knocked them out."

Cladius continued.  "Nightmare launched himself at the Aurors and was hit with the Cruciatris curse.  Somehow, Shingetsu's magic acted even when he was unconscious and his magic blasted five of the Aurors into the opposite wall while erecting a shield around the three of us.  The Aurors were convinced Shingetsu had done something to our minds and were going to take us to St. Mungo's in order to be 'examined' by healers and 'unbrainwash' us.  We ran to Nightmare and the shield moved with us; expanding to cover Nightmare which stopped the Cruciatris Curse.  Shingetsu opened his eyes and his magic helped him to stand and then we were flashed away along with the professor.   The last thing I saw before we left was Shingetsu blasted back into the wall and his wand snapped."

"What else did they say?"

"They said they were under orders from the Minister to kill Professor Fang," Tobias said.  "We aren't sure what led up to this but Shingetsu has wondered if the headmaster doesn't have ulterior motives for allowing the prince to go to Hogwarts."

"We have been wondering about that ourselves.  My wife told me how he reacted when my son and a boy named Tobias Moon, who our son has written us about as being his first friend, tried to stop them from going with the guards sent with my wife and daughter to celebrate the birth of Calista.  Forgive me but I should have asked earlier.  Who are you three?  I know two of you are wards of Calista."

"My name is Tobias Moon," Tobias said as he pointed to himself.

"I'm Violet Stone," Violet said.  Violet had blond hair and jade green eyes.

"I'm Claudius Zodiac," said Claudius.  Claudius had brown hair and blue eyes.

"We understand that matters concerning the young prince would be more important than learning our names my Lord," Tobias said.  "It is only natural and I imagine this is true for all parents, no matter their species, that parents will worry when their children are in danger."

"You are wise Tobias Moon for someone who is a first year," King Arashi said approvingly.  He turned to Violet and Claudius.  "Am I to assume you are both wards of Calista then?"

Violet and Claudius nodded.  "And your parents have disowned you," he said with a growl, "like you suspected?"

"Yes sire," Violet and Claudius said.

"That bears troubling news indeed.  Well, since you are both wards of Calista and since our son came to my wife who brought the matter to me in the summers and holidays you will both have rooms in the palace.  Is there anything you two need from your homes?  I can have some of my people or perhaps the slaves would be better," as he looked at Yuki, "to get anything you may want and bring it back here."

"Those idiots at the Ministry are fools.  They could very-well never mind.  It's nothing for children to be concerned about," Yuki said shaking her head but the three friends noticed both the king and queen appeared troubled.  After a few minutes of silence she sighed.  "However, as Shingetsu's friends and two of you being wards of Calista I suppose you have a right to know."

"By taking our son from us and harming him, which I have no doubt the Ministry has done and no doubt he has already been sentenced to Azkaban, the humans have sparked a war with Calista.  With the vampires would be more accurate.  If Fudge has made any more stupid laws then it could very well spark a war between the humans and all magical creatures," Arashi said.

Before any of the children could speak up to this shocking statement, a couple of guards came in.  Between them were-

"Professor Snape!"  Tobias shouted.  "Are we in trouble sir?"

Severus looked at the three children and inwardly groaned.  He should have guessed the young prince would send his friends to Nightshade.  "Your majesties," Severus said, bowing to the king and queen and motioning for the six-year-old boy to follow suit.   "I ask if my son can have sanctuary within Calista."

"What of yourself Mr. Snape?  Do you also seek sanctuary with us?" Queen Yuki asked as she looked at the young vampire before her.  "Although you are human, you are welcome to the sanctuary we will give your son.  What will your ministry do if they find out your son is one of us?"

Severus Snape was conflicted.   He had both his masters to contend with but he also had a duty to his son and his snakes at Hogwarts.  If he left his position as a death eater it could end up bringing Voldemort  and his death eaters after him.  They may kill his son if he left their service.  What would his light master do if Severus left his position as 'spy' for the Order of the Phoenix?  No doubt he would be thrown back into Azkaban.  "I don't know what to do.  I want to accept the sanctuary with my son but I'm afraid for my son's life if I suddenly leave both my masters."

"Then take time to think on this Mr. Snape and let us know of your decision.  Regardless, we will give your son sanctuary here in Nightshade."

"Do you know what happened when the Aurors came to Hogwarts?  How is our son?"  Yuki asked.

"The Minister of Magic has issued a law saying that all students at Hogwarts have to be given a blood test to see if they have creature blood in them.  If so, their wands will be snapped and they'll be expelled from Hogwarts and not allowed an education.   I had to tell Filius Flitwick, the Charms Professor,  who is part goblin and half human to flee.  There's also our gamekeeper who is half giant.  I took Zen and left and Filius warned Rubeus to flee as well.  They would have been thrown into Azkaban.  I think the Minister plans on putting tighter restrictions on magical creatures, no matter if they are light or dark."

"Then I am afraid we have no choice.  We have to call the council.  Guards!"

Guards came running into the room at their king's call.  "Yes your highness?" A black guard named Romulus asked.

"Send for the leaders of all the creatures and have them meet in Shadow Desert."

"Yes sire," Romulus said as they all bowed and hurried out of the palace to send messengers to all the creatures of magical Britain.

"I am sorry but you children will not be returning to Hogwarts.  You'll have to stay here for your own protection," Arashi said.  "Severus Snape stay here and rest.  I'll have someone take you and Zen to a home within the city or I'm sure we can put you in a village if you prefer to be away from city life.  As for the friends of my son and heir you will be given rooms in the palace."

"What is the council about your highness?" Violet asked in worry for her friend.

"It is a council that marks the beginning of a war.   A war between the magical beings of Britain and humanity.  You do not need to fear the creatures for they will not harm you.  Those who befriend a magical creature are never harmed by the creatures of the magical world.  I will have food sent to you and you can take your repast here before being shown to your rooms and go to sleep.  Severus and Zen, you are also welcome to food and in your son's case blood.  We bid you good evening but we must get ready for this plan.  Severus, you may need to come with us to the council meeting in order to relate what you have learned to the council."

"Of course King Arashi, Queen Yuki," Severus said bowing.

"Thank you for helping me and daddy," Zen spoke up since they had arrived at Nightshade.

"It is our pleasure young one.  You are among kin now and we never fail to protect our own," Yuki said.  With a word to a passing slave to bring food, drink and blood to the for the young vampire child as well as get rooms ready for the three friends of their son, the king and queen of Calista made their way to Shadow Desert.


	11. War Council

In Shadow Desert beings of every nature were either sitting or just apparating into the desert.  Before the King and Queen of Calista was Romulus, leader of the werewolves; Rofan, leader of the centaur herds; King Goldfang of the Goblin Nation; Empress Shiva of the Northern Lands which was the home of the Ice people; Prince Gale, ruler of the Giants; Lord Grim, leader and ruler of the Dementors and the people of Azkaban; and others who were too numerous to name among the human-sentient magical creatures.  They were all gathered within a circle, sitting or standing in the war council chamber of the only building within Shadow Desert.  The building was big enough to hold the prince of Giants. 

“Fellow creatures of the magical world I am glad you could come to our call,” King Arashi began.  “I am sure you have all heard by now that the Ministry of Magic has passed a law saying that all students of Hogwarts have to have a test that will determine if they are a creature or not.  Now I know this will only affect the vampires, werewolves, veela, elves, half-giants, half-dementors, and half-goblins who are attending Hogwarts but if they will send our children to Azkaban just for being who they are then they may turn on us as well.  Our son, Prince Shingetsu and heir to Calista, was taken in by Aurors and is probably now sitting in Azkaban.”

There were shouts of dismay and outrage that the prince of vampires could have been subjected to arrest by humans.  They looked to Lord Grim who was a Dementor.  “Yes what King Arashi says is true. The young prince has been thrown into one of the underground cells in Azkaban.”

Again the screams of outrage began and King Arashi had to let loose firecrackers from his wand to gain silence.  “We have a decision to make my fellow creatures and we must get the help of the non-sentient beings as well such as the trolls.   As we know when Voldemort was defeated by Neville Longbottom he approached many of us to side with him.  He made us various promises pertaining to our respective races but he didn’t fulfill those promises.  If he returns again he will no doubt seek us out for service to him again.  The Ministry and the magical world hate us and want to put tighter restrictions upon us.  They have enslaved the werewolves, treat the house elves like slaves, use the dementors to guard their prison, among other things.  Either way we are trapped between the Dark and the Light.”

The leaders murmured at the truth that King Arashi spoke.  The Dark Leader only wanted to use them while giving them false promises. The Light wanted them to be subjected to their will and demands.  Once the centaur and unicorn herds had been throughout many forests in the United Kingdom but were now sentenced to the small forest on the grounds of Hogwarts.  Already the creatures spoken of were having their citizens running to them and seeking shelter among their respective kind.  The beings who had bred with humans had hoped that they wouldn’t be subjected to prejudice and ridicule but they and their human parents had been treated with contempt by the wizards and witches of magical Britain.   

The leaders sat in silence as they thought over what King Arashi had said at the meeting.  “If the Dark Lord comes back he will come after us when we don’t side with him.  But he has never given us anything he promises us in order to make us work with him in the first place,” Empress Shiva said. “Though he has not thought to come to the Northern Lands the first time he may decide to seek our counsel at some point should he return.”

“I trust that nobody is going to end up harming the half-breeds or the human parents who are mated with each of our races?” King Arashi asked looking around at the group.  “They have done nothing to wrong our separate races and have been more accepted among our kind than in the wizarding world.”

“The only ones we may have to deal with are Fenrir Greyback and his pack,” Romulus said.  “As we all know Fenrir is a danger to my kind as well as the human race, both magical and muggle, in general.”

“You’re right Romulus.  Fenrir will need to be dealt with.”

“Leave him to us.  It’s a werewolf problem and I’m ashamed that it wasn’t taken care of sooner.  I should have killed both his father and the cub when it was turned.”

“What of his pack?” Lord Grim asked.  “Are they as much a danger to werewolves as their leader?”

“They are and I will make preparations to have them all killed as well.”

“Then we, creatures of the light and dark, will leave the death of Fenrir and his pack to the werewolf race,” King Arashi said.  “As for my proposal that we stay out of another war should Voldemort approach us and we deal with the problem of getting my son out of Azkaban how does the Council decide?”

“The humans have brought this upon themselves.  They will need to be dealt with.  I have no doubt that the humans would end up wiping us out,” Rofan said with a shake of his head. 

“Then the decision is made. We’ll show the humans just what they have done by restricting us and passing all these biased laws against the creatures of magical Britain.  They’ll regret they made war with us.  I’ll be sending some of my troops to Azkaban to free my son. Is that agreeable Lord Grim?”

“It is King Arashi.  Your son is left alone in Azkaban for none of the dementors go near him.  I her he’s already made a couple of friends among the citizens of Azkaban.”

Both the king and queen of Calista smiled. “Prince Shingetsu has always desired peace among our different races.  It’s a shame more humans can’t be the same way,” Yuki said dryly 

There were mutters of agreement at this and Arashi raised his hand for silence.  “Very well.  Messengers are to be dispatched when everyone is ready and final preparations made with the rulers of our respective kindred in another meeting that will take place in two months at the latest.  Is this agreeable?”

With cries in the affirmative the leaders departed to their respective domains and Shadow Desert was once again left in silence as the creatures of dark and light swept from building with various pops.  Arashi and Yuki appeared back at Nightshade in the living room of the palace.  “Guard!”

“Yes your majesties?”

“Prepare my army for war and place anti-apparation wards on Severus Snape’s room in the palace.  I am not sure where his loyalties lie so keep him in his room at all times until I find out for certain.”

“Yes sire,” the guard said before hurrying off. 

“What will we do about the friends of Shingetsu and the vampire child of the Potions Master at Hogwarts my love?” Yuki asked.

“They won’t be able to get any magical education here.  I think we should start looking for alternative magical schools in less restrictive countries for them though Zen’s will depend on whether his father remains with us or turns against us.”

“Do you trust him Arashi?”

“I don’t know.  He made some mistakes in his life that led him to becoming a death eater and appears to have repented from them though whether he is truly sorry for his crimes I have no idea.  Then he goes to Dumbledore, a man known for favoring his little lion cubs over the other three houses at Hogwarts, and gets forced into slavery with that man as well.  Another mistake on his part but then he’s only human.  Humans are bound to make mistakes in their life-though whether they learn from them or not is the question.  It appears they don’t learn that well from their mistakes if you look at all the wars they have made and continue to make.”

“Come sire let us retire and not trouble on these things that can wait until the morrow.”

“As you wish my lady,” Arashi said with a chuckle as he took his wife’s hand and kissed it softly before leading her up to their room. 

At Azkaban, Prince Shingetsu tried shadow flaming away but was disappointed to discover his powers were being constrained.  “If that fool thought to bound my magic and my powers I’ll kill the bastard myself!” Prince Shingetsu growled as he fell back on his bed and stared at the stone walls of his prison cell.  Who would have guessed that beneath the main part of the prison lay cells designed for the werewolves and vampires that sucked at their power so they couldn’t escape.  “You will pay Albus Dumbledore as well as the Ministry of Magic for your crimes against the heir of Calista.  A war is brewing and you’ll be lucky to be left alive at the end of it.”


	12. Raising a Rebellion

Shingetsu paced his prison cell angrily. The few human guards at Azkaban didn’t give him blood.  The dementors didn’t affect him since he was a dark creature.  It had been two weeks since he had been arrested and thrown into this underground prison cell and he was starting to feel the effects of being separated from Nightmare as well as the  starvation pains of being cut off from blood.  Separating a person from their bonded familiar was a death sentence. 

_Two weeks earlier:_

Breakfast had just begun at Hogwarts when the doors to the Great Hall swung open and in marched a team of twenty Aurors.  Heading them was Kingsley Shackelbolt.  He walked up to the staff table and stood before Headmaster Dumbledore.

“Kingsley what is the meaning of this interruption?”  Dumbledore asked getting to his feet.

“Sorry for the intrusion Dumbledore but the Minister has ordered us to administer the creature test on all students here.  Not even purebloods are exempt from this law,” he said turning to look at the Slytherin table.   “I’m sure you have heard of the new law saying that all people who have creature blood in them or creature parents are to be tested and upon found out are sentenced to life in Azkaban, their wands snapped, magic bound, and expelled from Hogwarts.  It’s part of the Minister’s new law to keep creatures separate from wizarding society.”

“My father will hear about this,” Draco Malfoy spoke up.  “Forcing purebloods like Slytherin to submit to a disgusting creature test.  Nobody in Slytherin has creature blood in them.”

“Mr. Malfoy, you’re father has no right to overrun the Minister’s law.  Not even his precious bribes will get his son out of this,” Kingsley said with a look of glee on his face.  “All students are to be tested as I said and therefore by order of the Minister all classes are canceled for the day so that the testing can take place.  All staff and students will have to submit to the creature test.  And Mr. Malfoy unless the Malfoy family is as inbred as rumors suggest then you have no clue how many people in Slytherin are as ‘pure’ as you claim.”

There were snickers from the other three house tables at that suggestion that the Malfoy line wasn’t as ‘pure’ as they liked to claim.  The muggle born witches and wizards weren’t sure what was going on but the half-bloods and purebloods, at least those not in Slytherin, were worried.  Not many witches and wizards talked about the creatures that they had bred with for generations.  Some families had a mix of creature blood in their families while others had a specific creature blood line in their family tree.

“Since you seem so interested in proving that you don’t have creature blood in you Mr. Malfoy how about we start the testing process with you.  Everyone else will remain in the Great Hall all day so we don’t have to call you all down.  Those with creature blood,” Kingsley stopped and conjured up a cage in the middle of the Great Hall, “will go into that cage willingly or unwillingly if necessary and wait transportation to Azkaban.”

Draco Malfoy stood up and walked haughtily up to the Aurors in the center of the Great Hall.  “Wouldn’t it be funny if Malfoy had creature blood in him and he was thrown in Azkaban,” Ron said to Neville who snickered behind a hand as he watched the proceedings. 

“Well Mr. Malfoy. This is interesting.”

“What’s interesting?”

“It appears you have creature blood.  According to the results of the test you are a panther demon.”

“That’s impossible!  My family would never breed with disgusting creatures!”

“The test doesn’t lie Mr. Malfoy.  Now if you would be so kind as to go inside the cage.  Or we can put you in there by force if you prefer,” Kingsley said smiling.

“My father will hear of this!”

“Your parents will be joining you in Azkaban soon enough Mr. Malfoy and you’ll remain there for the rest of your life.  Tonks snap the panther demon’s wand.”

Malfoy began to protest but he was blasted back into the far wall and then tossed into the cage.  Neville Longbottom had also been found to have creature blood in him.  He was a werewolf.  Dumbledore was upset that the savior of the wizarding world was a creature and was going to be thrown into Azkaban.  Who would defeat Voldemort now that his precious weapon was going to Azkaban forever?  By the end of the testing thirty students from all four houses had been stunned and were lying in the cage with the ashes of their wands lying in the center of the Great Hall.  “We thank you for your service Dumbledore in helping us capture these creatures,” Auror Segway said.  “We’ll take them to Azkaban now and issue arrest warrants for their parents.”

_Present Day:_

“So the famous Boy-Who-Lived and the Prince of Slytherin are here in Azkaban with the Prince of Vampires,” Shingetsu said laughing.  “How ironic that children such as yourselves would breed with the very creatures you profess to hate and believe to be beneath you.”

Shingetsu continued laughing which quickly turned into screams as he fell to the floor of his cell.  He clutched his stomach in pain as he felt the strong hunger affects.  His arm hadn’t healed from the time it had been broken and he knew that it would have to be broken again in order to properly heal if he didn’t get out of this infernal prison soon.   _What is taking dad and mom so long to get me out?_

_Palace in Nightshade, Calista:_

King Arashi and Queen Yuki were sitting in the meeting room with the vampires and half-vampires that had fled persecution by the British Ministry of Magic after the testing.  They hadn’t been able to save every one of their subjects not living within Calista from escaping Azkaban but those who had been warned of the law beforehand had fled to Nightshade in order to seek sanctuary with the King and Queen. Arashi and Yuki knew that the other sentient humanoid half human and half creatures were also flocking to their respective peoples in order to seek sanctuary for fear of going to Azkaban just because of marriage or what they were.  Not even the human mates of the creatures were exempt from Azkaban and the new magical law on creatures and half-breeds.

Before them were fifty families comprising of full vampires and half-vampires with their parents before the king and queen.  “Please your majesties, we seek sanctuary on behalf of us and our families,” a human father said as he had an arm around his vampire wife who was holding their newborn son and clutching the hand of his eight year old half vampire daughter.  “We won’t be any trouble.  If you can’t give us humans sanctuary then at least give sanctuary to your own kind.”  The rest of the human parents nodded in the affirmative.  As long as their mates and children were protected they would gladly go to Azkaban.

“Mr. Wolf, we are not so inconsiderate and cruel as to deny you and your fellow humans sanctuary just because you are not of vampire blood.  This is the same with the rest of the sentient humanoid creatures who have their own subjects fleeing this blatant persecution,” Yuki said looking at the man with sympathy. 

“My wife is correct Mr. Wolf.  Right now there are hundreds of creatures, human mates and half-breed children fleeing to their creature mate’s respective kin in order to escape Azkaban.  You and the rest of you humans are allowed to remain here with your families but until this war between the magical beings and the wizards and witches is put to an end you and the rest of your kind will need to remain here or anywhere throughout Calista for your own safety as well as the safety of your mates.  Since your children are hereby expelled from Hogwarts we are not sure what will be done about their education and the education of the future half-breed children.  This is something we creatures need to work on.  The last vampire war lasted ten years.  The one before that lasted twenty years.”

“Has there ever been an uprising between the magical creatures and the wizards and witches before?”  Rosaline Collins, a muggle woman asked.

“No.  We came close once fifty years ago but that rebellion was only between the veela and the humans. There has never been something of this magnitude before.  Then again the humans of magical Britain have never thought to do something so disgusting like this before,” Arashi said.  “We are not sure how long this new war will last.  It may be that we will triumph or… or it may be that we will fail and magical Britain will get her wish and slaughter all the magical creatures, both sentient and non-sentient.  Until then all humans will swear allegiance to Calista. The same will be for all human mates of the other sentient humanoid creatures.”

“Would they really wipe out all magical creatures?” A witch named Bella asked.

“Yes they would.  You’re a witch are you not?”

“A muggle born witch.”

“Ah then you wouldn’t know but magical Britain has hunted my kind for seven hundred years.  Creatures are looked down upon in magical Britain.  Actually in much of the world we are looked down upon but it is worse for those of us who live in Britain.  It is a pity that Hogwarts does not teach this history to all half-bloods and muggle born witches and wizards when they enter the magical world.  To the purebloods and those who have grown up in the magical world without creature blood in them we are nothing but disgusting freaks who should be slaughtered for they consider us unworthy to practice magic, seek jobs, mates, families or an education like them.  Humans think they are  _so_ superior to magical beings. Even among your own kind you kill and slaughter each other for no reason other than greed or power or resources. Not all humans are like this but the vast majority is.  It is a pity that humans cannot accept those who are different, let alone magical races not accepting each other. ”

“In addition for your allegiance you will be allowed to live here peacefully or anywhere in Calista,” Yuki said.  “You will not be harmed while in Calista as long as you don’t betray us or leave our empire. If you betray us your lives will be forfeit.  That is our law.”

The humans there nodded and swore their allegiance to the king and queen of Calista for as long as the war between the magical creatures and the wizards and witches of magical Britain lasted.  “Allendale,” Arashi called and a guard immediately came into the room where he had been standing outside guarding the door before bowing before his king and queen.  “Show the humans and their families to cabins in any of the villages around Nightshade.  Give the humans work to do to keep them busy.”

Allendale nodded and more guards appeared to take the humans and their vampire families to the nearby villages.  The closet village was Moon Valley and was five miles away from Nightshade.  A knock on the door sounded and Severus Snape entered.  “Yes Professor?”  Arashi asked looking at the former Potions master of Hogwarts.

“My King and Queen,” Snape said bowing to the vampire royal couple.  “I would like to remain in Calista with my son but I am afraid of both of my masters.  You see Albus Dumbledore, the professed leader of the light, also marked me as his slave.  I fear for my safety and my son’s safety if I don’t return but Albus has threatened to send me back to Azkaban and I would most likely end up there anyway once news got out to the Ministry about Zen being a vampire.  This would also put me in danger with the Dark Lord as he doesn’t know I have a son.”

“You have not thought to have these marks removed from your person?” Yuki asked curiously.  She felt sorry for the Potions master.  To be abused like that by a dark lord and the professed ‘leader of the light’ was abhorrent even among creatures.  Never would a human slave belong to two masters at the same time.

“I didn’t know they could be removed.  I can’t even find the mark that Albus Dumbledore put on me.”

“We can find it and remove both of them.  We can remove the magics as well as the marks themselves but it will probably be painful for a human.  Are you certain you wish to go through with this Severus Snape?”

“They can be removed?  Are you sure?” Severus looked at them both desperately.  He would give anything to be free of both his masters and be a free human again. 

“You do not need to repay us Severus Snape,” Arashi said. “What has been done to you should be illegal.  Binding a human to someone in that manner can easily kill the slave during the process but it can also kill the slave if they disobey the master or he can choose to kill them at any time.  It also drains the slave’s magic.”

“What does that mean?”

“It means Severus that you are extremely weak.  It has nothing to do with you.  I know you made a mistake by joining Voldemort and you probably didn’t think that Dumbledore would bind you to him as well.  It is natural that you wouldn’t think of the ‘light leader’ as being able or wanting to do this but he did and that shows just how evil he is.  Once the marks are found and removed you should be extremely more magically powerful than you are now.  Get some rest and we will see about this tomorrow.  It may take a while though as it depends on where your second mark is hidden and how long it takes for us to find it.”

“Thank you!”  Severus shouted kneeling before them before hurrying back to his son.  Arashi and Yuki looked after him with smiles on their faces before they turned back to the fire.  “How do you think Shingetsu is doing Arashi?”

“I don’t know Yuki.  I have seen how painful it is for Nightmare to be away from our son.  I can only imagine what our son is going through. The humans will regret taking our son and heir away from Calista and they’ll regret angering the magical races of the world.”


	13. Rescue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adding a chapter I missed in between Raising a Rebellion and Battle at Azkaban.

Arashi sat with the leader of the Veela, the leader of the werewolves, the leader of the Incubi, the leader of the giants, the leader of the goblins, the leader of the succubi, and the animal demon leaders who had people in Azkaban.  It had taken two months to figure out how many creatures were in Azkaban among the above leaders.  Creatures kept track of their kin even when they had creatures that were living in the muggle and wizarding communities.  Yuki was concerned it might be too late for their son.  Nightmare was still suffering the effects of being separated from Prince Shingetsu and was now in paralysis.  The only way to reverse a separated bond was to bring both bonded together again.

"According to my calculations, it appears we have one hundred half and full-blooded vampire citizens locked away in Azkaban," Arashi said.  "What are the reports of your respective kin?"

"Fifty half-giant children are in Azkaban," Prince Gale said.

"Twenty panther demon children have been arrested," Lord Night said.

"Ten Incubi have been taken in."

"Five Succubi."

"Sixteen werewolf children have been taken."

"My people are safe since we're on Azkabam," Lord Grim said.  "But the human guards have been given the right to use the Patronus spell on us which causes us injury as everyone here knows."

"Twenty-two half-goblins have been captured and taken to Azkaban," said King Ragnock.

"Two veela children."

Numbers continued to be issued by the rest of the demons.  Arashi shook his head.  "Lord Grim, is it possible for your people to flee Azkaban?"

"No. We once had plenty of land but are now restricted to Azkaban.  We used to live in the mountains as well as Azkaban.  It is something we try not to think about."

The other creatures were silent.  "What should we do about the Malfoys?  The entire family has been death eaters since Abraxas Malfoy."

"What are the Malfoys?" Arashi asked.

"I believe they are panther demons."

All the creature leaders, including the leader of the panther demons, burst out laughing at the news.  "The Malfoy idiots are creatures!  So, they aren't as pure as as they think they are.  What of the famous 'Boy-Who-Lived'?  Is he a full-blooded human?"

"Werewolf," Romulus said.  "He must have been bitten as a child because this is the first time I've heard of this.  Should we kill him and the Malfoys?"

"The fate of the Malfoys is left to Night," Arashi said.  "They are, after all, part of his kin.  As for the famous 'Boy-Who-Lived' ; according to my son's friend and fellow dorm mate, that wolf has treated my son like dirt ever since they started school.  Romulus, his fate is up to you.   Night you also need to decide what to do with the Malfoys."

"Agreed," Romulus said.  "I'm not sure how my kin and cubs will take to having a stupid brat as part of the pack."

"Well that needs to be decided as we need to rescue our kin within the next two days.  Night, you also need to decide what to do with the Malfoys."

"I believe the Malfoy boy can be saved but his father can't.  It would be best to kill Lucius Malfoy at the very least.  I'm not sure about Lady Malfoy."

Arashi nodded and rubbed his eyes tiredly.  "I think it's time everyone get some rest.  Romulus, talk to your kin and ask them about Mr. Longbottom.  We are all in agreement then that we attack in two days' time and that us leaders stay here?"

At the nods, Arashi stood up and disappeared into the palace while the rest of the leaders made their way to the places they were staying with their respective armies that had been brought with the leaders for the raid on Azkaban.  Two days later, the respective armies of the humanoid creatures formed up by species in straight lines and awaited the Generals' orders.

* * *

 

"We are going to free our brethen in Azkaban.  Werewolves, you are to slaughter the Boy-Who-Lived.  Panther Demons, kill Lucius Malfoy on sight.   Also kill off the Lestrange family and other avid supporters of the Dark Lord.  If we can hurt him before he comes back by killing off his most loyal supporters, then we will help ourselves in the war to come.   Try to get out with minimal losses.  All who are rescued are to be taken back to Nightshade per the leaders' orders.  You are to split into groups, slaughter the Dark Lord's followers and rescue your respective kin.  Understood?"

Everyone nodded and the armies apparated onto Azkaban.   Lord Grim knew what was happening and had lifted the anti-appartion wards on Azkaban to allow his fellow creatures entrance.  Luckily, there were no human guards on Azkaban at night so they would be safe so long as they were quick.

"I had one of my Dementors take care of Lucius Malfoy," Lord Grim said.  "Lady Malfoy was pleased we killed her husband.  It seems he was beating on her and young Master Malfoy."

"Can the Malfoy child be saved?"

"Yes.  We examined his mind and soul and found that he is a bit shocked that he is a creature but is accepting of it."

"Interesting.   Very well everyone.  You know what to do."

The creatures immediately spread out.  Half searched for and slaughtered the Dark Lord's supporters, including the Lestrange family.  The other half searched for their kin and began taking them back to NIghtshade.  Two vampires found their young prince paralyzed and starving.  "Sire, we've come to get you along with the other creatures that were locked away.  Don't worry.  We'll make sure you are home soon," Leon said as he carefully picked up the young heir in his arms.

Shingetsu heard them but he couldn't respond.  _Finally, they've come for me,_ he thought before he blacked out.   Leon and Jolt looked nervously at each other and hurried out of the prison cell and back to a few guards who had waited for the heir of the werewolves and the heir of the vampires to be rescued.  "Sire!" The other vampires immediately bowed seeing their young prince as did the werewolves to their own prince who was carried in Greyback's son's arms.  Relieved, the creatures didn't notice that Aurors were coming onto the island.  A cough behind them made the creatures there form a protective shield around the werewolf and vampire heirs.

"Well, what do we have here?"


	14. Battle at Azkaban

Before the line of vampires and werewolves was a group of forty humans.  The vampires and werewolves growled in anger and pointed their wands at the human guards.  The heirs of the Werewolf and Vampire Nations were more important than their own lives.  Rescuing the heirs of the werewolf and vampire nations as well as the rest of the creatures and destroying the supporters of Lord Voldemort were the reasons for their mission.  If they didn’t save the werewolf and vampire heirs then nothing mattered anymore.

“This is none of your concern human,” spat a vampire.

“Oh this is too our concern when disgusting creatures are breaking into Azkaban,” a middle aged Auror replied.  “Drop what you’re holding and lay down your wands.  We’ll give you nice cells in Azkaban.”

“Do you really think we would listen to a bunch of disgusting sheep?” This time a black werewolf spoke up and he felt his canines lengthening.  The rest of the werewolves’ canines began lengthening and the vampires claws began to grow.  Some of the wolves had embraced the wolf inside them and their eyes were more yellow than amber.  What the humans didn’t know was that Wolfsbane was poisonous to a werewolf and that they would slowly go insane if they took it.  If a werewolf accepted the wolf within them then they would be able to transform at will and the transformations would be less painful then if the werewolf didn’t accept their inner wolf.  The wolves who lived among the humans didn’t know that. They didn’t know because the wolves who lived within the werewolf nation didn’t want the humans to discover their secret.  It was the one advantage they had over the humans.  The full moon just strengthened their power.

Some of the wolves who had embraced their wolf and lived among humans chose to only transform on the full moon to protect the rest of their kin and the werewolf nation.  Inside the werewolves’ heads their inner wolves were growling and struggling to get out in order to protect their prince and the vampire prince as well.  The vampires had no such problems but in all the vampires’ minds was a desire to protect their prince and the heir to Calista.

“Who are you human to demand of us anything?” Colonel Bane asked.  Colonel Bane was a colonel in the werewolf army. He had been left behind along with Colonel Rabastan, who was a colonel in the vampire army, to make sure the two heirs were successfully removed from Azkaban.  The dementors were nowhere in sight as they had fled into the underground tunnels of their home.

“I am Auror Barthelme,” the leader of the group of humans said.  “Are you aware of the laws issued recently by the Minister of Magic?”

“Of course we are. They’re stupid and created by bigots.  No wonder Britain and Hogwarts are the laughing stock of the wizarding world!”

“How dare you creature!  Creatures like yourself should have been killed from the day you were born!”

“Get the princes out of here!” Colonel Rabastan shouted to the werewolf and vampire who were each holding their respective princes.

“Not so fast.  Crucio!”  Forty voices shouted the torture spell and cast it at the vampires and werewolves. The use of the unforgivable was allowed to be used on creatures and slaves.  Screaming the first two lines of the vampires and werewolves fell to the floor screaming in pain.  Of course all this did was further piss off them all off and now the inner wolves were screaming for blood.  The werewolves were having a hard time holding their inner wolves in check and they weren’t sure now that they wanted to hold their wolves in check.

“You will surrender the vampire and werewolf heirs, turn over your wands and give yourselves up immediately.  And where are the dementors?!”

The vampires and werewolves smirked.  “Stupefy!”  A vampire shouted and the battle began.

Spells flew along the hallway.  Communicating telepathically the werewolves began shifting at will and the humans stared in shock as fur began sprouting on the werewolves.  Claws and teeth fully lengthened as their bodies began to change.

“What the hell is going on?!”

“It’s not even a full moon! How… how is this possible?”

Snarling the werewolves and vampires fell on the humans.  There were only seventeen werewolves and fifteen vampires left at Azkaban.  Now that the werewolves had revealed their secret these humans had to die.  Oh they were going to die anyway for kidnapping the princes and the other creatures but they could not be allowed to leave the island alive now.

A curse got through and struck the werewolf prince who screamed in pain.  A second later the vampire prince began convulsing and his breathing began to slow.  “Sire!  Colonel Rabastan Prince Shingetsu is dying!”

“WHAT!” All the vampires shouted.  “What about Prince Zeus?”

“He got hit with a cutting curse. He’s bleeding out.  Oh fuck what are we going to do?  The princes can’t die!”

The vampires and werewolves were panicking.  “Get them home!  QUICKLY!” Colonel Rabastan shouted at the two guards who were holding onto the dying princes.

With renewed vigor the vampire and werewolf army began the fight in earnest.  They heard two  _pops_ as the wards were lifted and the two guards vanished before the wards fell back down.  Even though the dementors were underground they were still controlling the wards.

“The wards are lifted.  Someone send for backup!”

The vampires parted as a werewolf dashed through the foray and leapt on the human tearing him from limb to limb.  A few other werewolves quickly protected their fellow pack mate as the humans turned on the werewolf who was savaging the poor Auror who had tried to make a break for it.  Azkaban was soon filled with blood flowing along the halls and complete silence for the first time since it had been turned into a prison.  On the floor laid the dead bodies of all the Aurors.  A few of the vampires and werewolves were sporting injuries from the fight and they had lost three vampires and four werewolves in the fight but other than that they had come out okay.  Notifying Lord Grim the werewolves lifted their dead comrades and disapparated back to Nightshade where their fallen would be buried in their respective nations.  The dementors had been alerted that the humans had been slaughtered.

Underground a few dementors were digging for information. They were trying to find a way to break free of human control.  “Lord Grim!”  A dementor ran up to the Lord of Dementors who was staring into the fire.

“What is it Vince?”

“I think we have found something. But…”

“But what?”

“The ritual requires a sacrifice on the night of Chaos.”


	15. Mourning

Arriving back in Nightshade the remaining vampires and werewolves saw that Romulus and his mate Jasmine were gazing at their dead son on the altar.  The wolves all transformed and howled at the moon.  They howled their anger and sadness over the loss of their prince and then lowered their heads.  The vampires were saddened for their cousins and remained quiet.

Arashi and Yuki looked tired.  The vampires, no all the creatures, knew that this upcoming war would take a toll on their leaders.  “Romulus I’m sorry we couldn’t save young Zeus from being killed.”

“How did this happen?!” He growled in anger at his vampires and the werewolves.  Romulus too bared his teeth and snarled at his werewolves who all cowered on the ground in front of their king while the vampires whimpered.

Romulus lunged forward and grabbed the cowering Colonel Bane by his neck, lifted him up and slammed him back into the ground. The other wolves didn’t move to help their leader for fear that they would also get punished.  Romulus was in a rage and battered the blond werewolf before carefully picking up his son in his jaws and storming into the castle followed closely by Jasmine.  Colonel Bane whimpered as Arashi and Yuki looked down at him.  “Give your alphas some time Bane.  Though I also wonder what exactly happened at Azkaban. Send for one of the healers and they’ll heal your wounds.  Then I suggest you all retire and stay out of your alphas’ and my way for the next few days until Romulus calms down.”

Bane nodded and dragged himself towards the King of Vampires and leader of the Shadow Phoenix clan before licking his hand.  Arashi just shook his head and walked back into the palace with Yuki at his side.  The injured werewolves and vampires made their way to their respective camps and one of the vampires went to fetch a couple of healers to heal the injured.

Romulus was busy destroying the room Arashi and Yuki had given him and his mate when Jasmine pushed the door open with her muzzle.  She saw their son lying on their bed as her alpha and mate began shredding the plus soft carpet on the floor.  Their son would never move again.  He had been stolen from them a month ago. Somehow Aurors had killed the two guards and whisked their son away to Azkaban without any of the packs knowing of it.  Later they had found out that one of the alphas had leaked information to the Aurors.  That werewolf had been ripped apart by Romulus in a rage and the two guards had had died while trying to protect the young prince had been given an honorary funeral. Their bodies had been burned on pyres built out of sticks.  The honorary death was only given to those werewolves who had died protecting a member of the royal family or to children who had died before they had reached adolescence.

Jasmine transformed back into her human form and went to sit on the bed.  She gathered her dead son in her arms and brushed his bangs out of his eyes.  His sea green eyes that were flecked with amber were blank.  Romulus threw back his head again and howled in anger and grief while cursing the humans in his mind.  Saddened he transformed back into his human form and sat beside his mate with tears in his eyes.

“It isn’t your fault Romulus that Zeus died.  It isn’t anyone’s fault.  No,” she said as Romulus opened his mouth to protest, ‘it isn’t even Colonel Bane’s fault that Zeus died.  How were they to know that Aurors would come back to the island and trap them there?  How were they to know that our son would get hit with a cutting curse and that Shingetsu would begin to die as well?  Nobody could have known that would happen.  If it’s anyone’s fault then it is the humans.  They have restricted us too long and these new laws they enacted have just restricted all creatures further.”

“It is odd,” Romulus said after a moment.

“What is that love?”

“Don’t you find it odd that no werewolves have been allowed into Hogwarts since Remus Lupin was there?  No vampires have been there in twenty years since Titus Fang but then all of a sudden Shingetsu is allowed to go to Hogwarts?  I wonder if something deeper is going on that we don’t know about.  And what about the ‘Dark Creatures’ class that suddenly sprang to life when Titus went there as Shingetsu’s guard?  When have new classes ever sprung to life at Hogwarts?  When has the curriculum ever changed?”

“Why wasn’t there a class on light creatures?” Jasmine asked understanding where her mate and husband was going with this discussion.  “He can’t possibly know about Shingetsu being born Harry Potter can he?”

“No.  Not to my knowledge.  You know all the creatures have been sworn to keep that a secret.  The poor boy would have been used if anything had happened to Neville Longbottom.  And that’s something else.  Dumbledore is supposedly the ‘greatest wizard ever’ in modern times. Why didn’t he see that Tom Riddle was going dark?  Why did he do nothing to stop Tom in the first war and let thousands of innocents die?  Why is willing to ruin two innocent children’s’ lives just for a prophecy?”

“I don’t know the answers to your questions Romulus but it does make me wonder now that I think about it.  Things have just seemed to go downhill for us creatures since Prince Shingetsu was accepted at Hogwarts. Should we talk to the leaders?”

“Yes we should. Something needs to be done to protect both the light and dark creatures.  In this war there is neither light or dark.  There are only the humans and creatures.  Both light and dark creatures will side together in this war.  Even the light creatures have been restricted.  Look at the centaurs who have been restricted to the Forbidden Forest.  The dementors who are prisoners in their own home and forced to serve wizard kind. The goblins who are mistreated by the wizards and witches.  Even the owls are mistreated in a way.”

“You mean how they use owls to carry letters back and forth instead of using muggle means of communication?”

“Yes.  I’d like to know whose bright idea it was to use owls to send letters to each other.  The muggles don’t mistreat them like that.  Can you imagine if it got leaked to the muggles about magic and about owls carrying letters? They’d probably try to kidnap young owls and cage them to be like us.  Look at all the animals they keep in zoos and the poachers who kill innocent animals for their tusks or their fur.  Look at the muggles who hunt for sport instead of for food and clothing.  That’s cruel and they don’t see anything wrong with it.”

“That is true.  I too don’t understand how some muggles can be so cruel as to think it’s okay to use hunting as a sport.  And you’re right that muggle children who were fascinated with magic might try to cage owls and use them to deliver messages to each other.  Did you know that poor Fawkes had a forced bond to Dumbledore?”

“Yes.  It’s sad that a supposed ‘good wizard’ can do that to a noble bird.  Are you calm enough now to find out what happened at Azkaban?”

“Yes but we should find out about Shingetsu first.”

Jasmine smiled at her husband and the alphas walked through the halls until they came to Arashi and Yuki’s room. “Arashi may we come in?” Romulus asked as he knocked softly on the door.

“Enter,” Arashi said with sorrow in his voice.

The alphas entered and saw Arashi sitting on his bed. Yuki was nowhere to be found.  The two alphas suspected that she was with Shingetsu.  “What’s wrong with Shingetsu?”

“He was suffering from paralysis due to being separated from Nightmare.  He’s also suffering from starvation and had a broken arm when he was found.  He also had a concussion from where he had been slammed against the wall as well as a few broken ribs and a fractured skull.  His spleen burst and he was hemorrhaging.  That’s why he was convulsing.  The spell the Aurors hit him with didn’t help matters.  The healers had to break his arm again and reset it so that it could heal properly and they brought Nightmare, or rather Nightmare found Shingetsu,” at this a slight smile graced his face, “and he appears to be healing.  If he had been separated from Nightmare one more day then he would have died.  I’m sorry that we didn’t rescue your son and the other creatures in time.  Yuki is with him right now.  We are sorry for your loss and you are welcome to stay here as long as you need.  Your wolves as well.”

“Thank you but once my wolves are healed I think we should return to our homeland.  We are glad that Shingetsu is going to be alright.”

“Will Brian take up the leadership after you?”

“Yes.  Unless we have another heir he will take control of the werewolves in the event of our demise.”

Arashi nodded and shook his head.  They talked about their suspicions about why Shingetsu had been allowed into Hogwarts after twenty years and why no other werewolves had been allowed in Hogwarts after Remus Lupin had graduated.  But none of them had any answers.  “The other creatures will go to their respective kin after they are checked by our healers.  Though Nightshade may be crowded for a while I fear.”

Romulus and Jasmine excused themselves and went back to their room where they lay with their son between them and fell into a fitful sleep.  They knew, as did all the humanoid creatures, that nobody would be getting any sleep for a long time.   _They will pay for what they did.  The wizards and witches of Britain will see what happens when they start a war with creatures! THEY WILL ALL PAY!_


	16. Breaking Off

Arashi called an emergency meeting of all the creatures to meet in Shadow Desert.  The leaders all apparated and made their way to the war chamber of Darlicrea Building.  Darlicrea stood for Dark and Light Creatures.  It was where the leaders of the creatures gathered in times of war and to get a respite from ruling their respective subjects.  Only visible to creatures, Shadow Desert could also be used as a sanctuary for the creatures of Britain. A normal human; muggle, squib, half-blood or magical; would see nothing but a wide expanse of black sand with permanent twilight. 

“First Romulus has some news,” Arashi said once everyone had gathered.

“Thanks Arashi. As you all know the rescue of our fellow subjects was successful as was the destruction of the Death Eaters and other supporters of Voldemort. Prince Shingetsu and Prince Zeus were rescued from their cells and the other creatures made it safely to Nightshade, the vampire capital of Calista.  But before my son and Arashi’s son could escape Aurors showed up at Azkaban.  A battle began in which the werewolves and vampires left there killed all the Aurors but in the process my son and heir was hit with a cutting curse and bled out before they could escape.  We also lost a few vampires and werewolves in that battle.  I believe it is time to declare war on magical Britain and possibly the rest of the magical world.  They need to learn that creatures will not be abused or restricted any longer.”

“What of Prince Shingetsu?”  The leader of the Griffins asked. 

“Prince Shingetsu was dying by the time he was taken from Azkaban.  He is still recovering but my healers expect him to make a full recovery. He is notably pissed off at Dumbledore and the Ministry for throwing him in that place in the first place and means to have his revenge.”

There were cries and squawks from the gathering.  “An important thing we need to get rid of is the acromantula that have set up residence within the Forbidden Forest. According to the centaur and unicorn herds the acromantula were introduced by half-giant Rubeus Hagrid shortly before his untimely expulsion from Hogwarts.  They are unnatural to our world and have no business taking over the remaining territory of the centaurs and the unicorns. We will need to wipe them out first thing in order to protect ourselves and our children at Hogwarts.”

“I have some important news Arashi if I may?” Lord Grim asked.

“Of course Grim. The floor is yours.”

“One of my subjects, a dementor, not one of the human citizens of the Isle of Azkaban or the Druid Islands, found a ritual to break us from human control. However it requires a sacrifice and can only be done on the Night of Chaos.”

The other creatures shuddered at that.  “Do you know who the sacrifice will be Grim and will it affect your human citizens?”

“No to both questions Arashi.  We have about six months before the Night of Chaos comes to pass.  In addition to freeing my fellow kin from human control it will also give Azkaban and the Druid Islands complete autonomy from the British Ministry of Magic.  We will be a free country again.”

“Six months of hell for your people Grim.  Will you be able to handle it?”

Grim nodded.  “The Azkabanians are excited that we will be free in six months but are worried about the sacrifice. They have already placed objections to me sacrificing myself even though I haven’t talked about it yet.”

“You are a good leader Grim.  Your people love you, both dementor and human.”

There were mummers of agreement.  “Now I think we should start by breaking completely off from the wizard world for now but first let’s put an article in the Daily Prophet and other papers around the world.  Let’s see just how the humans react to our declaration of open war, something that is sadly long overdue.”

**Forty Aurors Found Dead at Azkaban**

_By Johnathan Panel_

_This morning forty Aurors were found dead last night when the morning shift went on duty.  Aurors checked the prison and found out that all the creatures that had been arrested and sentenced to Azkaban had escaped from their cells.  Even the princes of the vampire and werewolf nations escaped from Azkaban.  It appears that the Aurors were torn apart by wild animals in the battle that ensued.  There is no evidence to suggest where they went.  What does this mean for wizards and witches throughout Britain?  Where were the Dementors during the time this escape and attack took place?  The Ministry and the readers want to know!_

**Creatures of Britain Declare War!**

_By Johnathan Panel_

_Early this morning a letter was sent to the Daily Prophet and signed by all the creature leaders.  The letter is to be printed in its entirety:_

_To the wizards and witches of Magical Britain,_

_Vampires have been hunted by the Ministry for six hundred years.  Werewolves have been hunted since the 1400s.  Magical Britain is stuck in the Victorian Era and Hogwarts has fallen from what it was when the founders were alive.  No wonder Britain and Hogwarts are the laughing stock of the rest of the wizarding world. Purebloods rule and take most positions in your government which pushes muggle born and half-bloods out of the magical world upon finishing their education.  Lies are spread about Salazar Slytherin for reasons we can only guess.  You enslave the house elves, enslaved the Dementors and stole their lands from them; you mistreat the Goblins when they are the ones handling your money, and even have a law that says you can rape muggle born and squibs.  How many of you humans know about that last law?  But mentioning the law that muggle born and squibs can be raped and held hostage by purebloods is not the point of our letter._

_We, the creatures of Magical Britain, are fed up with the wizards and witches thinking they are superior to creatures. Too long have we been enslaved, restricted, and nearly driven to extinction by humans.  We will no longer tolerate this treatment.  When the witch trials were occurring in Salem and the United Kingdom the magical world was also issuing a war against creatures.  We declare that we are now breaking off from Magical Britain and declare war on the human population of the magical world._

_Sincerely,_

_The creatures of Britain_

_Wizards and witches I ask you what will you do now that the creatures have declared war on us?  We are finally at peace after the Boy-Who-Lived saved us from Voldemort and now we have another war upon us by inferior beings?   These creatures should have been wiped out long ago._

An owl brought a paper to Shadow Desert later that morning and Arashi quickly enlarged the article so that everyone could read it.  They all started laughing as they began reading the influx of panicked letters from the humans of magical Britain freaking out.  “Has Gringotts closed down?”  Prince Gale asked.

“Yes all branches of Gringotts around the world and the main branch in Diagon Alley shut down this morning.  All wizarding vaults are hereby frozen and the humans won’t be able to get to their vaults. They’re already starting to panic,” Goldfang said with a smile.  “There was already a riot outside the bank in Diagon Alley.  The guards ended up throwing them out of the bank and sealed the doors.”

“Do you think Fawkes will break free from Dumbledore?” 

“Hopefully.  Phoenixes are noble creatures and don’t deserve to be forced into slavery.  We need to figure out what to do about the house elves.  There has to be some way to free them from their human masters.”

In the headmaster’s office Dumbledore threw down that morning’s edition of the Daily Prophet in disgust.  He had just gotten back from Gringotts and was disturbed that he couldn’t gain access to Neville Longbottom’s trust fund or his own vaults.  They had been frozen once it had been confirmed at Azkaban that Neville had been ripped apart.  Now who was going to save the wizarding world from Voldemort when he came back?  Who could he use now to defeat Tom Riddle since both boys of the prophecy were now dead?

Pushing back his chair he made his way over to Fawkes who squawked in terror as he saw his master’s eyes.  Fawkes had been forcefully bonded to Dumbledore after Grindelwald became a Dark Lord.  “I suppose you think this funny don’t you?” Dumbledore asked the phoenix.  “Well you’re not ever getting away from me.”

Fawkes stared back at Dumbledore with a mixture of terror and anger in his eyes.  Dumbledore was furious that Hagrid, Flitwick and Severus had vanished from Hogwarts.  When he went to go to tend to matters elsewhere in the school, Fawkes began to break the bond enslaving him to the headmaster.  In his years of slavery Fawkes had learned that Dumbledore wasn’t as light and kind as he pretended to be.  The old man wanted power and he didn’t care who he had to kill or use to get that power.  The humans who treated him like a God or the next Merlin and were his loyal supporters were fools.

Screaming in pain Fawkes fell off his perch as he worked quickly to sever the bond tying him to Dumbledore and several other bonds that kept him forcefully at Hogwarts.  Hearing footsteps Fawkes severed the last bond holding him just as the headmaster came towards him.  “YOU STUPID BIRD!  YOU CAN’T GET AWAY FROM ME!  BOMBARDA!”

Because Fawkes had been under the bonds for so long he didn’t have time to get out of the way as the spell hit him.  Instead he was blasted back into the wall and let out another scream as he felt his spine snap along with both his wings.  “CRUCIO!”  The scream continued as the noble bird was hit with the torture curse.  On top of the pain he was already feeling Fawkes was suffering from the effects of severing the bond and breaking it quickly like he had instead of breaking it slowly like most phoenixes did.  Looking up through his blurry vision Fawkes flashed away only to collapse in front of the palace in the Phoenix Kingdom.  As he looked around he saw other phoenixes that had been forcefully bonded to human masters appearing and their cries filled the air before they blacked out.

“DAMN THAT BIRD!” Dumbledore shouted as he began to destroy his office in his rage.  With the death of Neville Longbottom his monitoring charms and little gadgets had exploded.  Waving his wand he repaired the damage to his office and then fell to the floor screaming in pain as he dealt with the after effects of the broken bond.  He had kept the silencing spell up so nobody would be able to hear him scream.  He was at a loss as to what to do now. His plans were falling apart.  Nobody disagreed with Albus Dumbledore!  He was the leader of the light.  He was the one who had locked up Grindelwald after defeating him and he was the one who had made Lord Voldemort the way he was. He would defeat these creatures and put them in their place or wipe them all out in the process if needed.  Nothing would stand in his way of world domination!

The Minister was not having a good day.  First the morning shift of Aurors to Azkaban had found forty dead Aurors and all the creatures and human spouses of the creatures taken from Azkaban.  The Dementors had been nowhere to be found and had not done their duty in helping restrain the other creatures.  Then Gringotts had shut down all their banks around the world and the wizarding world was beginning to panic since they couldn’t access their funds.  On top of that a letter had been printed in the Daily Prophet saying the creatures were going to start a war with Britain and the rest of the magical world.  He was being swamped with howlers from angry people, mainly purebloods, saying that something needed to be done to fix the problem.    This was going to ruin his chance of election.  As if he didn’t have enough to deal with due to the fact that the Boy-Who-Lived had been a werewolf and had then been ripped apart while in Azkaban.  Fudge’s life was going to hell quickly.


	17. Slave to Free

“Severus Snape my healers can remove the marks that enslave you to two masters now,” Arashi said looking at the former potions master of Hogwarts.

“Thank you sire,” Severus said.

“Don’t thank me until the marks are removed and they will be.  My healers are the best.  And I’m not your master or your king so none of that ‘sire’ stuff Severus.  Get some rest when it’s over.  You may be in pain for a while after the marks are removed but once it’s done you’ll truly be free.  And you’re welcome.”

Severus made his way down to the hospital wing.  “Professor Snape?” The female vampire asked as she looked up from the window seat she was sitting on. 

Severus looked up at the vampire before him.  She had waist length silky auburn hair with almond shaped sapphire eyes.  He felt his heart skip a beat as he gazed at her.  This was something different from Lily.  “It’s Mr. Snape Miss…?”

“Forgive me Mr. Snape.  I’m Selena Ravenscar. I’ll be your healer while I remove the marks on you that bind you forcefully into slavery.  If you could please lie on one of the beds we can get started.”

Selena walked over to the bed that Snape had laid down on and pushed up the sleeve of his shirt on his left arm.  The dark mark was easy to find.  The light mark was nowhere to be seen but that didn’t mean it wasn’t hidden somewhere. Pulling out her wand she performed some quick diagnostic spells and then her face turned into a scowl as anger flashed in her eyes. 

“What is it?”

“It appears that Dumbledore did not just mark you Mr. Snape.  He also put compulsion charms on you to be mean to Neville Longbottom, loyalty spells, memory modifications, and placed blocks on your magic.  King Arashi and Queen Yuki will want to hear of this.”

“Can you fix everything?”

“Yes.  But you may end up being here in the hospital wing longer than expected.  I’m going to put you to sleep now so I can remove everything without you feeling pain.”

Severus nodded and Selena put him into a deep pain numbing sleep.  He wouldn’t awaken until he was healed fully.

Selena examined the dark mark and easily detected the dark magic surrounding it.  “Semi fetch King Arashi and Queen Yuki and bring them to the hospital wing!”

Semi, another female vampire, hurried out of the hospital wing and made her way to the king and queen’s quarters.  “What the hell happened to you?”  Selena asked the quiet room.

Arashi and Yuki came into the room and glanced at Severus lying on the bed before turning their attention to Selena.  “What warrants our presence Selena Ravenscar?”  Yuki asked.

“I am sorry for disturbing you both your majesties but it appears there is more problems with Mr. Snape then was originally suspected.”

“What type of problems?” Arashi asked.

So Selena began to explain everything she had found wrong just with examining the former potions master of Hogwarts.  Most of the problems seemed to link back to Dumbledore. 

“It seems the headmaster of Hogwarts and the ‘leader of the light’ is more evil than we imagined.  Do what you can for him.  He won’t be going back to Hogwarts for his own safety.  Alert us when he is awake.”

“Yes your majesties,” Selena said with a bowl. 

Arashi and Yuki left the hospital wing.  “Dear I think our healer is interested in the Potions Master,” Yuki said to her husband.

“What makes you say that Yuki?”

“Selena kept glancing at the Potions Master when she was talking to us about his condition.”

Arashi just looked at his wife in shock and then laughed.  “Well we may end up having a new citizen of Calista then if they get together.  Yuki we need to figure out something for schooling the children.”

“That’s true.  Perhaps you should call another meeting.  I don’t think it will be safe for us to send the children to school anywhere with a war coming.  Perhaps we should place a school in Shadow Desert.  We can find staff easily among the human spouses and creatures.”

“You’re right.  The children need to be educated in both magical and muggle subjects.  I’ll hold a meeting in a couple of weeks.  I can’t understand why Hogwarts doesn’t teach muggle subjects.  How are the witches and wizards who are half-blood or muggle born and have grown up in the wizarding world explain their absence?  How can they get a job since they have no proper muggle education if they leave the wizarding world?  It makes no sense at all.”

“Your majesties!” Tobias ran into the room and quickly bowed.  “Prince Shingetsu is awake and asking for you.”

“Thank you Tobias,” Arashi said. 

Arashi and Yuki made their way to their son’s room and saw that he was indeed awake as Tobias Moon had said.  A healer was sitting beside him on the bed but upon her king and queen entering got quickly up and gave a bow before disappearing into the hallway so that they might have some privacy.

“Shingetsu my son,” Yuki said as she sat beside him on the bed, her navy blue dress pooling around her feet as she laid a hand on her son’s head.  “How are you?”

“Better mom.  What happened to Zeus?  The last thing I remember is being rescued by two guards.”

“Prince Zeus is dead Shingetsu,” Yuki said.  “He was hit with a cutting curse by the Aurors and didn’t make it.  The army that was left at Azkaban was halted by Aurors before they could escape.  You’ve been in a coma for two months now.”

Tears came to Shingetsu’s eyes at the loss of his friend.  “I’ll KILL Dumbledore for this!”

“You aren’t going anywhere Shingetsu until you get some rest,” Arashi ordered his son. “A war is starting and you won’t be going back to Hogwarts.  Neither will your human friends and the children of the other creatures.  We’ll show these humans not to mess with creatures any longer.”

Selena worked on Severus Snape all through the night.  After removing the dark mark she removed the dark magic that linked Voldemort to his death eaters.  Finding the light mark was harder and it took her half an hour to find it.  At midnight she laid her wand down and went to her office to sleep after posting an assistant healer to come for her if Severus showed any signs of waking.  It was going to be hard explaining what had been done to her patient when he awoke but he already looked much healthier than when he had entered Nightshade two months ago.  _Perhaps he is the mate I have been waiting for.  I definitely feel a bond between us.  But does he feel the same for me?_


End file.
